Facts on retrial of activist Ahmed Doma

CAIRO - 8 January 2019: The retrial of political activist Ahmed Doma has started a year ago. Cairo Criminal Court will give the sentence on Wednesday. Doma was convicted of committing violence and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The crimes included in the arraignment date back to December 2011 when clashes occurred in front of the cabinet and the parliament. The lawsuit is publicly known as “Cabinet Clashes” and the first verdict against Doma and others was delivered in July 2017.

The following are key facts on the retrial.

The first retrial session took place on November 3, 2018.

The retrial took place over 36 sessions where the court listened to testimonies and defenses, and examined evidence.

On February 18, 2018, the court played a video showing the moments the Egyptian Scientific Institute was set on fire, a fire truck was stolen from Kasr Al Ainy street, and demolition of parts of the parliament’s building occured.

The same session was attended by the legal representative of Dream TV channel as he brought videos of two interview with Doma by host Wael al-Ebrashy whereas the former admitted he threw Molotov cocktail at the Egyptian Scientific Institute and the parliament.

“My target was not the building but the military personnel,” Doma said in two interviews that were aired on December 21 - 22, 2011.

On July 25, the court displayed a video recorded by eye witness Hesham Ahmed showing a man filling bottles with gasoline from a motorbike. The witness testified that the man in the video is Doma.

The number of defendants in the lawsuit is 231. Only Doma appealed the verdict while the rest have been sentenced in absentia. On February 4, 2015, Doma and 229 others were convicted of vandalism of public and private properties, assault on police forces, attempt to break into the cabinet building, and mobbing.

The accusations that Doma currently face are vandalism of public and private properties, assault on police forces, possession of bladed weapons and Molotov cocktail, and attempt to break into the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior with the aim to set it on fire.