A protester sits in front of riot policemen during a demonstration on April 15, 2016 in central Cairo against a controversial deal to hand two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo/Mohamed El-Shahed)
Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian courts have handed out jail sentences on the weekend to 152 people for taking part in unlicensed anti-government protests, judicial officials and lawyers said on Sunday.
The rulings were issued on Saturday by separate courts, with a first group of 51 people sentenced to two years in jail and later in the evening 151 others given five-year sentences for the same reasons.
International and domestic rights groups accuse President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi of running an ultra-authoritarian and repressive regime with zero tolerance for dissent in a crackdown that has been escalating since he deposed in 2013 his democratically elected Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi.
The defendants were among scores who were detained on April 25 during or on the sidelines of anti-government protests, including against Egypt's decision to handover to Saudi Arabia two Red Sea islands. READ MORE
