Egypt

Prominent activist returns to Cairo after being sentenced to prison

Political activist Asmaa Mahfouz returned to Cairo on Wednesday on a German airplane coming from Munich, a security source said.

Mahfouz had left Cairo on Friday, arriving first in the US and then in Germany.

The blogger was not arrested upon arriving at Cairo airport even though she had been sentenced in absentia Tuesday to one year in prison for allegedly assaulting a witness in an ongoing trial over violence at the state TV building in October. Mahfouz must also pay bail and a LE2,000 fine.

Mahfouz and her lawyers said she would appeal the ruling. Her appeal is scheduled to be examined on 14 May.

Mahfouz rose to fame when she posted a video on YouTube urging Egyptians to protest against President Hosni Mubarak before he was toppled in February 2011.

Since then Mahfouz, who was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, has targeted the military rulers who took charge after Mubarak’s ouster.

The military had said it would try her for incitement over her online writing but dropped the case.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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