Amid Crackdown, Egypt Sentences 152 People To Prison For Protesting

Source: www.npr.org --- Sunday, May 15, 2016
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Egyptian protesters demonstrate in Cairo on April 25, 2016, against the handing over of two Red Sea islands to saudiarabia. The people sentenced are accused of participating in the protest. Mohamed el-Shahed /AFP/Getty Images Egyptian courts have sentenced 152 people to prison time over a peaceful demonstration against Egypt's president last month. It's another sign that President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi will not tolerate dissent, amid a widespread crackdown on opposing voices. Two separate courts in Cairo ruled against the demonstrators – in one, 101 people were sentenced to five years in prison, and in the other, 51 were sentenced to two years in prison, judicial officials tell NPR. The demonstrators were found guilty of protesting. In 2013, Egypt banned all demonstrations that haven't received prior government approval. The protests at the center of these trials focused on Sissi's controversial decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to saudiarabia, which he said were actually saudi territory. saudi has given Egypt billions of dollars in aid since the coup (which Sissi led) that ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. As NPR's Leila Fadel explains , the furor that Sissi's announcement unleashed really comes down to nationalism: "people really saw this as an affront to their nationalism and to their territory." As Leila reported, historian Khaled Fahmy explained why it is ironic for a "nationalist government to be d ...