Egypt slaps prison terms on another 151 over Saudi island deal
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Egyptian protesters run for cover from teargas fired by riot police during a demonstration in Cairo on April 25, 2016, against the handing over of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian courts have handed down prison terms to another 151 people arrested during protests against the government’s controversial decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
Egypt judicial officials and lawyers said on Sunday that the defendants were given five-year sentences for taking part in unauthorized anti-government protests. The sentences were passed late Saturday.
The rulings came hours after a first group of 51 people sentenced to two years in jail early Saturday for the same reasons.
Legal experts and rights activists have denounced the recent verdicts.
Reacting to the rulings, defense lawyer Mohamed Abdelaziz, director of Al-Haqanya foundation of rights and freedoms, on Sunday said: "We are in a state of shock since yesterday."
Mokhtar Mounir, a rights lawyer from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, also said: “The whole case is built on random arrests.”
Sources say the individuals were convicted of breaking a 2013 law that effectively bans street protests and traffic disruption.
Hundreds of people have been arrested and charged for taking part in demonstrations on April 15 and 25 against Cairo’s decision to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia under a deal negotiated in near total secrecy.
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