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Egypt jails prominent political figure for a year over 'false news'
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS MARCH 11, 2020 / 8:05 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Egypt jails prominent political figure for a year over 'false news'
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced one of the leading activists of the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising to a one-year prison term on Wednesday after convicting him of spreading false news, a judicial source and a lawyer said.
Zyad Elelaimy, a prominent rights lawyer and former member of parliament already in detention since June last year over separate charges, was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,272) by a Cairo misdemeanor court on Tuesday, they added.
The court found Elelaimy guilty three years after a lawyer reported him to prosecutors citing an interview he had given to the BBC, his lawyer Ahmed Fawzi told Reuters.
Fawzi said the defense team had been unable to clarify in court which comments Elelaimy was being prosecuted for. The defense team has appealed against the sentence, and a hearing is due to be held on April 7, Fawzi added.
-snip-
Egypt jails prominent political figure for a year over 'false news'
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced one of the leading activists of the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising to a one-year prison term on Wednesday after convicting him of spreading false news, a judicial source and a lawyer said.
Zyad Elelaimy, a prominent rights lawyer and former member of parliament already in detention since June last year over separate charges, was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,272) by a Cairo misdemeanor court on Tuesday, they added.
The court found Elelaimy guilty three years after a lawyer reported him to prosecutors citing an interview he had given to the BBC, his lawyer Ahmed Fawzi told Reuters.
Fawzi said the defense team had been unable to clarify in court which comments Elelaimy was being prosecuted for. The defense team has appealed against the sentence, and a hearing is due to be held on April 7, Fawzi added.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-court/egypt-jails-prominent-political-figure-for-a-year-over-false-news-idUSKBN20Y1QP
