Egypt jails 51 detainees to 2 years over illegal protests

An Egyptian court sentenced Saturday 51 people to two years in prison over late April's illegal protest against Egypt's recent transfer of two islands to Saudi Arabia, official MENA news agency reported.

On April 25, the Egyptian security forces dispersed limited protests in Cairo, Giza and other provinces and arrested dozens of protesters who rallied against the recent Egyptian-Saudi maritime demarcation agreement to hand over the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir to the oil-rich Gulf country.

The prosecution referred the detainees to urgent trial at a misdemeanor court over charges of organizing and joining protests in defiance of the anti-protest law and attempting to destabilize the country.

The press syndicate in Cairo sued the interior minister for the arrest of tens of journalists and the besiege of the syndicate that prevented the journalists from doing their job of covering the marches on April 25 and the national Sinai Liberation Day that coincided on the same day.

Earlier in mid-April, political forces, including April 6 Youth Movement and liberal and leftist parties supported by former presidential candidates, launched similar protests over the two islands and called for giving up the Egypt-Saudi deal.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said in an earlier speech that the two islands originally belonged to Saudi Arabia and it was time for Egypt to return them to their rightful owner.

The police continued to arrest known activists and refer them to trial over similar charges this month, yet a court on Thursday released 13 activists who were arrested in late April in the coastal province of Alexandria over gathering for anti-government protests.

The maritime demarcation agreement was announced in Cairo during a recent visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz whose country supported Sisi's administration with billions of dollars in aids, deposits and oil supplies. Enditem