A Cairo criminal court has ordered the release on bail of prominent activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah and two others who were appealing 15-year sentences for breaking a controversial protest law in November 2013.
Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman aka Noubi and Wael Metwally were sentenced to 15-years in prison and fined LE100,000 on charges of organising an illegal protest, rioting, destruction of public property and using violence against security forces.
The court also decided to refer a personal video of Abdel-Fattah to the prosecution to investigate who was responsible for it behind shown in court as evidence against the activist on 10 September.
The decision of the prosecutors to use the video – which showed Abdel-Fattah's wife belly dancing at a family party, according to those who attended last week's session – as part of the evidence against the defendant sparked outrage by Alaa and his lawyers in court. Defence lawyer and prominent activist Khaled Ali questionedboth the relevance and morality of showing it.
The trio, along with 22 others, was sentenced in absentia in June.
Although the trio has been released, they are still appealing the 15-year prison sentence for violating the protest law – one of many cases in which defendants are being tried under the law, passed last November by interim authorities.
The trio were arrested outside the court when the verdict was delivered. In August, they began a hunger strike to protest their convictions.
Abdel-Fattah's lawyer added that Monday's ruling comes "in accordance with the law," charging that the in absentia nature of the first verdict was legally questionable because security forces had prevented Abdel-Fattah from entering the courthouse to attend the trial's proceedings.
Ali, defence lawyer and activist, also welcomed the court's decision to recuse itself as he says there's an existing feud between the defendants and the presiding judge, according to Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.
Monday's court decision comes amid a hunger strike campaign by Abdel-Fattah, Noubi and tens of other political detainees as well as supporters which has picked up momentum in recent weeks.
At least 82 people in Egyptian jails are on a hunger strike to denounce the protest law while more than 242 others outside of detention – including families, activists and journalists – have joined the strike in solidarity.
Seven of those charged in the case have staged an open-ended sit-in at Egypt's National Human Rights Council to demand the revoking of the protest law, the release of political detainees and the cancellation of all verdicts issued under the law's provisions.
At least seven political parties have temporarily joined the hunger strike in solidarity.
Nasser Amin, a member of Egypt's Human Rights Council, said last week that the protest law is currently undergoing an amendment phase.
Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said on Sunday that he "does not have any problem" with the law being amended.
