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| Africa North |
| Egypt sentences 11 Mursi supporters to up to 88 years |
| 2014-04-28 |
| An Egyptian court on Saturday convicted and sentenced 11 alleged supporters of the countryâs ousted president to up to 88 years in prison on charges that include violating a protest law and assaulting police. Five of the 11 people sentenced on Saturday by the court in the southern city of Minya were tried in absentia. The charges against all of the defendants were linked to demonstrations in the town of Samallout to protest the violent dispersal by security forces of two weeks-long pro-Mursi sit-ins that killed hundreds and wounded thousands. The presiding judge on Saturday was the same one who issued death sentences against nearly 530 suspects in mass trial in March. The ruling stunned rights groups, and drew condemnation from abroad. In Cairo, meanwhile, hundreds of secular-minded activists and protesters rallied in front of the presidential palace, demanding the interim president abolish a disputed protest law used extensively over the past months to jail and prosecute activists, including leading figures of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The law issued in November bans all political gatherings and protests without prior permission from police. Violators are punished by heavy fines or jail. Rights groups have sharply criticised the law, calling it draconian. While marching toward the palace on Saturday, some of the protesters chanted âFreedomâ and âAbolish the law, get them out of prison.â Others carried pictures of jailed activists. A few in the crowd tore down posters for the former military chief Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi, who is now the front-runner in next monthâs presidential elections. |
| Posted by:Steve White |