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In Blow to Leadership of ’11 Revolt, Egypt Activists Are Given 3 Years in Prison | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
CAIRO — Three activists who played central roles in the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak were convicted on Sunday of participating in recent protests and sentenced to three years in prison, raising fears that the new government was seeking revenge against opponents of Egypt’s old order. | |
Human rights advocates said the harsh sentences were the first verdicts in a political case against non-Islamists since the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July. The court’s decision was the clearest strike yet against leading figures of the January 2011 uprising by the new military-backed government, which has empowered the security agencies that were among the main targets of the protesters. | |
The sentences follow new charges against Mr. Morsi and his allies for their roles in stirring unrest during the revolt. Taken together, the legal actions suggested the new government saw the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak less as a popular uprising than a temporary breach of the law. | |
Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said there was little doubt that Egypt’s military-backed leaders intended the sentences as a warning to pro-democracy activists. “It is time to shut up, to stay quiet,” Mr. Eid said, summing up the message. “There is only one choice — to support the military or to be in jail.” | Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said there was little doubt that Egypt’s military-backed leaders intended the sentences as a warning to pro-democracy activists. “It is time to shut up, to stay quiet,” Mr. Eid said, summing up the message. “There is only one choice — to support the military or to be in jail.” |
The activists — Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Douma — were also each ordered to pay more than $7,000 in fines. | The activists — Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Douma — were also each ordered to pay more than $7,000 in fines. |
The defendants were accused of violating a controversial new law that criminalizes gatherings of more than 10 people without authorization. The charges stemmed from an episode last month in which the riot police tried to disperse activists who had gathered outside a courthouse to protest an arrest warrant served against Mr. Maher. | The defendants were accused of violating a controversial new law that criminalizes gatherings of more than 10 people without authorization. The charges stemmed from an episode last month in which the riot police tried to disperse activists who had gathered outside a courthouse to protest an arrest warrant served against Mr. Maher. |
The three men were also charged with assaulting police officers and are expected to appeal their sentences. | |
A government crackdown that followed Mr. Morsi’s ouster was focused squarely on the former president’s Islamist supporters, who were shot at protests in successive mass killings and thrown into prison by the thousands. More recently, officials have seen a threat from the revolutionary activists who, three years ago, were hailed worldwide for their role in toppling Mr. Mubarak after his three decades of autocratic rule. | |
Drawing on unwavering public support for the crackdown, the authorities cast a wider net: Officials who had warned Egyptians about the danger of Islamist “terrorism” also began to portray the youth activists as a “fifth column” seeking to destroy the country. | |
The activists have suspected that Egypt’s most powerful, unreformed state institutions, are seeking to retaliate against critics who called for prosecutions of Mubarak-era officials. | |
“The judiciary and the state are taking revenge against us, clearly,” Rasha Azab, a journalist and antigovernment activist, wrote in a post on Twitter on Sunday. “Nobody forgot what was done to the symbolic figures of the Mubarak regime.” | |
Egyptian officials have promised a speedy transition to democracy, while simultaneously broadening the scope of the crackdown. In recent days, the government has been promoting a referendum on a draft constitution that is supposed to be part of a road map that will lead to elections. It has also moved aggressively against its opponents. | |
Last week, new charges were leveled against Mr. Morsi, implicating him in conspiracies to destabilize the country before his ouster on July 3. On Wednesday, state security agents raided the offices of a human rights group, apparently to arrest Mr. Adel. During the raid, agents beat other employees of the organization. | |
The verdicts on Sunday raised fears for several other prominent activists currently facing trial on similar charges. | |
Mr. Maher and Mr. Adel are both founders of the April 6 youth movement, which rose to prominence with protests against Mr. Mubarak’s rule beginning in 2008. Mr. Douma, also a well-known antigovernment activist, was earlier prosecuted by Mr. Morsi’s government, receiving a suspended six-month sentence for insulting the president. | |
In a letter from prison on toilet paper, Mr. Maher wrote a withering tract about the country’s authoritarian turn. | In a letter from prison on toilet paper, Mr. Maher wrote a withering tract about the country’s authoritarian turn. |
“Torture in police stations remains, while the Ministry of Interior is back to what it was,” he wrote. “The protest law was passed, and the oppression of freedoms is back.” | “Torture in police stations remains, while the Ministry of Interior is back to what it was,” he wrote. “The protest law was passed, and the oppression of freedoms is back.” |
“Now,” he added, “the youth of the revolution are in prison.” | “Now,” he added, “the youth of the revolution are in prison.” |
Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting. | Mayy El Sheikh and David D. Kirkpatrick contributed reporting. |