5 defendants sentenced to 5-10 yrs in ‘First al-Zaytoun Cell’

CAIRO – 15 May 2018: On Tuesday, May 15, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced a defendant to 10 years in prison and another four defendants to five years in the case known publicly as the “First al-Zaytoun Cell”.

According to the final judicial decision issued early in the morning, the defendants faced several charges, including joining a group opposed to the law by disrupting the Constitution and the law, and preventing state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their duties by spreading chaos.

They also were accused attacking the personal freedom of citizens and causing damage to national unity and social peace.

On April 15, the Court of Cassation rejected appeals by four defendants against death sentences in the case known as the “Aswan Terrorist Cell”. The defendants are accused of forming terrorist cells to incite chaos, attack public and private facilities, and target security and army personnel.

In December 2013, the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group and that all of its activities were banned by law; accordingly, all of its members would face trial in a court of law.