CAIRO: An Egyptian court jailed a prominent activist yesterday for three years for contempt after the man claimed his ongoing trial for participating in violent clashes was political.
Ahmed Douma rose to prominence during the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak, and was also a key protest leader against Mubarak’s successor, Mohamed Mursi.
He is already serving three years for violating a law prohibiting protests without a permit.
“I want the judges to recuse themselves from the case because they have transformed it from a criminal one to a political one,” Douma told the court yesterday, his lawyer Sameh Samir said.
The court sentenced Douma, 29, in a verdict broadcast on state television.
Samir said Douma’s defence team had stopped representing him after the presiding judge, Mohamed Nagi Shehata, called for the prosecution to investigate five of them.
As a result of Judge Shehata’s call, Samir said he attended yesterday’s session only as an observer.AFP
