Activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed Ibrahim, Yahia Hussein Abdel-Hadi appeared on the Emergency State Security Court in Cairo.
A number one determine in Egypt’s 2011 revolution, blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, appeared in courtroom on Monday together with different co-defendants firstly of a brand new trial, his defence group stated.
Abdel-Fattah, his lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, one other blogger Mohamed Ibrahim, and activist Yahia Hussein Abdel-Hadi face fees of “broadcasting false news” and belonging to “terrorist” teams of their trial earlier than the Emergency State Security Court in Cairo.
The subsequent listening to within the case was set for November 1, their lawyer Khaled Ali instructed the AFP information company. Rulings within the distinctive courts are last and can’t be appealed.
Abdel-Fattah, a pc programmer and distinguished determine within the rebellion that toppled former chief Hosni Mubarak, has been in pre-trial detention since September 2019. He has spent a lot of the previous decade in jail.
He was arrested within the wake of uncommon, night-time protests prompted by an exiled development contractor calling for the elimination of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on claims of corruption.
His lawyer el-Baqer and Ibrahim, also called “Oxygen”, had been additionally detained in a big crackdown.
The trials of the three Egyptian activists and the rights lawyer had been postponed Monday, their lawyer stated. They can be tried in two separate proceedings in the identical courtroom.
Rights group say there are about 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt going through brutal, unhygienic situations and overcrowded cells. In a 2019 interview with 60 Minutes on CBS, el-Sisi stated there have been no political prisoners in Egypt.
Activist household
The trial of Abdel-Fattah, Ibrahim and el-Baqer was postponed till November 1, whereas Abdel-Hadi’s was postponed to October 25, in keeping with Ali. The judges postponed proceedings to permit defence attorneys time to assessment trial-related paperwork, he stated.
The 4 face fees starting from disseminating false information and misuse of social media platforms to becoming a member of a terrorist group, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated as a terrorist group in 2013.
Egypt’s authorities has in recent times waged a wide-scale crackdown on dissent.
Abdel-Fattah and Ibrahim had been arrested late in 2019 whereas on probation amid a sweeping safety clampdown following small however uncommon anti-government protests. El-Baqer was arrested whereas attending a questioning session of Abdel-Fattah by prosecutors in September 2019.
Abdel-Hadi is a co-founder of the Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal and left-leaning events opposing the federal government of el-Sisi.
He was arrested in January 2019 forward of the vote on constitutional amendments that enabled el-Sissi to run for 2 extra four-year phrases.
Abdel-Fattah, who rose to prominence following the 2011 rebellion, has been detained a number of instances beneath completely different governments for lobbying for civil rights on social media and in public.
An influential blogger, he hails from a household of political activists, attorneys and writers. His late father was one among Egypt’s most tireless rights attorneys and his two sisters are additionally political activists. His aunt is award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.
In current weeks, Abdel-Fattah’s household and his attorneys had accused jail authorities in Tora jail complicated in Cairo of torturing him and denying him fundamental authorized rights. They referred to as for prosecutors to research the claims.
In March, an Egyptian courtroom sentenced Sanaa Seif, Abdel-Fattah’s youngest sister, to 18 months in jail after discovering her responsible of spreading false information in regards to the dealing with of COVID-19 outbreaks in Egyptian prisons.
Egyptian legislators and different public figures have repeatedly urged authorities to launch activists and rights advocates who’ve been detained in recent times on alleged politically motivated fees.