Cairo, March 8. The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced on Wednesday the heavy prison sentences handed down on March 5, following a “massive and unfair” trial of 29 men and women for their “peaceful activism”, who received prison sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.
The activists belong to the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, an independent local human rights organization, many of whom were arrested in late 2018.
“The cruel prison sentences against Ezat Ghoneim and his colleagues in the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms present further proof that the government of President Abdelfatah al-Sisi is not serious about reforms,” said Eric Goldstein , the deputy director for the Middle. East and North Africa.
The decisions were made by an emergency state security court, whose decisions are not subject to judicial appeal, the NGO pointed out, and clarified that the only way to appeal is through a plea. presented to the president, who has the power to set aside or vary the tribunal. decisions.
The defenders were charged under the penal code and anti-terrorism law with leading or joining a “terrorist” organization, referring to the Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered a terrorist group by the Egyptian government.
The case involved 30 defendants, around 14 of whom have been in ‘prolonged and illegal’ pre-trial detention since late 2018, while the court acquitted one and sentenced all the detainees, along with others in absentia, according to the NGO.
“Seventeen were sentenced to life imprisonment and seven to 15 years, including Ezzat Ghoneim and Mohamed Abu Huraira,” the statement said.
The State Security Court sentenced lawyers Ezzat Ghoneim and Mohamed Abu Huraira to 15 years in prison last Sunday; Aisha al Shatir at 10 years old and lawyer and former member of the National Human Rights Council, Hoda Abdelmoneim at 5 years old.
In addition, he ordered that convicts remain under police surveillance for 5 years after serving their sentence, in addition to putting their names on the “terrorist list”.
The sentence also includes “the closure of the coordination page on the Internet and the prohibition of communication” of the local NGO.
National and international human rights organizations have criticized the fact that since General Al-Sissi came to power in 2014, tens of thousands of people, including activists, journalists, lawyers, artists and twittos, were imprisoned for different reasons. EFE
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