Egypt: 78 Children Sentenced To Prison For Protesting

 

 

An Egyptian court has sentenced 78 children to prison for belonging to Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood and participating in the group's protest.  Their sentences range from two to five years. The children denied participating in protests or belonging to the group.

 

Alexandria security forces had arrested the children while joining a rally in the Moharram Bek area in Alexandria, calling for bringing down the regime and reinstating ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following his ouster in July 2013.

 

Egyptian Streets reports that Head of the court, Mosaad al-Refaie charged the minors with “belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood”.  The defendants’ lawyer, Ahmed al-Hamrawy, said that legal procedures are being followed to ease the verdict, expecting lighter sentences against many of the defendants.

The Brotherhood was listed as a terrorist organisation last December. Egypt sees this organisation as the one responsible for the stringent wave of militancy which has targeted security personnel since Mursi’s ouster. However, the organisation denies this charge.

 

It should be noted that sentencing minors is a crime in Egypt. Article 112 of Egypt’s Child Law (Law No. 12 of 1996 Promulgating the Child Law, as amended by Law No. 126 of 2008) states that, “Children may not be detained, placed in custody, or imprisoned with adults in one place,” and that any public official who “detains, places in custody, or imprisons a child with one or more adults in one place” should be sentenced to a minimum of three months in jail and a fine of at least 1000 Egyptian pounds.