Cairo: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced leading pro-democracy activist Ala’a Abdul Fattah to 15 years in prison in a case that has brought the military-backed authorities under criticism from rights groups.
The Cairo Criminal Court convicted Abdul Fattah of staging an illegal demonstration outside the parliament building in central Cairo last November to protest a controversial law that bans street rallies without police permission.
The court gave the same sentence to 24 other defendants in the case. None of them were present in the courtroom when the ruling was announced.
They were also charged with attacking policemen, blocking roads and vandalising public and private property.
Shortly after the ruling pronouncement, police arrested Abdul Fattah upon his arrival, accompanied by his father who is a lawyer at the court building in southern Cairo.
Abdul Fattah is one of the young activists who spearheaded a 2011 popular revolt that eventually forced president Hosni Mubarak out of power.
Several secular pro-democracy campaigners have been arrested since July last year when the army toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, a crackdown that has raised concerns about the new rulers’ commitment to freedoms.
