Mahienour’s sentence reduced to 6 months while other case postponed

Mahienour El-Masry’s appeal against a 2-year jail sentence with a 50,000LE fine for protesting at Khalid Said’s murderers’ trial in late 2013 saw her prison term reduced to 6 months with a 50,000LE fine. The court decision on 20 July came after El-Masry has spent little over two months in prison. Mahienour’s comrades have been joined by a broad international solidarity campaign in calling for the release of the human rights lawyer and revolutionary socialist activist since her arrest in May 2014.

Mahienour is also among a group of prominent Alexandrian activists facing a new trial. The court hearing begain today, but was almost immediately postponed until to 13 October 2014.  Along with Yousef Shaaban, Louay al-Qahwagi and others, she has been charged in connection with an incident in Ramle police station in Alexandria in March 2013, during Morsi’s presidency. A number of Muslim Brotherhood activists handed three lawyers over to the police, claiming they had attacked the Freedom and Justice Party offices. When other lawyers and activists came to the police station and held a peaceful sit-in demanding their released, they were beaten by the police, and then charged with attempting “storm the police station and release detainees”.

Although we are disappointed that Mahienour will spend one more day unjustly in prison along with thousands others still in Sisi’s prisons, however, we are delighted that at least we were able, with people’s solidarity and determination, to reduce the sentence in her first case. The new case against her shows that we can’t let down our guard, and must continue to mobilise the widest possible solidarity with activists threatened by Sisi’s military regime.

You can read Mahienour’s latest letter from prison here…