Egypt has delivered an opposition figure and the former presidential applicant Hisham Kassem a new six -month prison sentence for defame a former minister, said his lawyer. AFP Thursday.
Kassem was released in February 2024 after complying with a six -month sentence that effectively prevented him from playing a December 2023 presidential election.
The new sentence was issued in the absence on Wednesday because Kassem is out of the country, said lawyer Nasser Amin a AFP
Kassem had not been notified of the new charges against him, said Amin, added: “These measures have been very worrying.” The European Parliament described the original Kassem prosecution in September 2023 as “politically motivated.”
His last conviction was for charges to defame another former Minister of Labor, apparently in the same comments as the first.
Human Rights Group The Egyptian initiative for personal rights condemned the ruling, describing it as “continuous judicial persecution for political purposes.”
“Trying Kassem again for the same incident and for the same positions … It is not only to prove the same accused by the same act twice, but also clearly indicates an explicit desire to punish him for his political statements criticizing the regime and his political activity,” the group said.
The administration of President Abdel Fattaah Al-Sisi has faced persistent criticism of his human rights history since he came to power in 2014.
Since 2022, the Administration has published hundreds of political prisoners, although human rights groups say that many more have been arrested during the same period.
