Egyptian Court Jails 152 People Over Islands Protest

An Egyptian court sentenced 152 protesters on Saturday to between two and five years in prison each after they demonstrated against a decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, judicial sources and state media said.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed in central Cairo on April 25 to quell protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to hand over Tiran and Sanafir islands.

More than 200 people are being tried in connection with the protests, Reuters quoted the judicial sources as saying.
Of those sentenced on Saturday, 101 received five-year prison terms and 51 received two-year sentences.
The 152 protesters were convicted of breaking a law banning people from protesting without first notifying the Interior Ministry, the judicial sources said.
Defence lawyer Ahmed Helmy said they would appeal. “There is no evidence of guilt,” he told Reuters.
The prosecution did not issue any formal statement on the verdicts.