Egypt reduces sentences for 23 protesters

CAIRO: An Egyptian appeals court reduced the jail terms on Sunday for 23 young activists convicted of violating a law banning protests without a permit, judicial sources said. The arrest of the activists in June while they demonstrated against the law which tightly restricts protests was condemned by rights groups as a reflection of an increasingly repressive political climate in Egypt. Mass protests led to the ousting of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and were used to express discontent with President Muhammad Mursi, who was toppled last year. Sanaa Abdel Fattah, a 20-year-old university student and the sister of leading activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, was also among those arrested. On Sunday, their sentences were reduced from three years to two. The court also canceled a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds($1,400) levied against each of the defendants and reduced the period of police surveillance following their release to two years from three. On Saturday, Mohammed El-Beltagy, a leading Brotherhood member, was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting a panel of judges. Presiding judge Shaaban El-Shami accused El-Beltagy of insulting him during the proceedings for a case in which he and 130 other defendants are accused of staging prison breaks during the January 2011 uprising. The judge took his remarks as an insult, and found El-Beltagy in contempt of court for the second time since the trial began. El-Beltagy was also fined $2,800.   Reuters