An appeals court in Egypt on Saturday ordered 14 women jailed after a protest to be freed, reducing 11-year prison terms to a one-year suspended sentence, as seven girls were also ordered released.
The women’s supporters in the Alexandria courtroom chanted “God is great” as the judge pronounced the ruling, according to Agence France-Presse.
Some 21 women and girls were held last month for taking part in a protest demanding ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s reinstatement following his overthrow by the army in July.
The 14 adult women were handed 11-year jail terms and the seven minors were sentenced to juvenile detention, shocking even supporters of the military-installed government.
In the adult court, the 14 women were ushered into the defendants’ cage dressed in prison issue white and holding red roses.
They had scrawled the word “freedom” in black marker on their palms.
Lawyer Ahmed al-Hamrawy told the court there was no evidence to convict his clients and asked the judges to release them.
“Even in Mubarak’s era there were morals. Egypt’s women and girls were a red line and they weren’t placed on trial,” he said, referring to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, Morsi’s predecessor.
The jail terms, coming in the same week as a restrictive new protest law, re-energized Islamist opposition to the interim government and drew criticism even from its secular supporters.
