Egypt slaps prison terms on another 151 over Saudi island deal

Egyptian courts have handed down prison terms to another 151 people arrested during protests against the government’s controversial decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Egypt judicial officials and lawyers said on Sunday that the defendants were given five-year sentences for taking part in unauthorized anti-government protests. The sentences were passed late Saturday.

The rulings came hours after a first group of 51 people sentenced to two years in jail early Saturday for the same reasons.

Legal experts and rights activists have denounced the recent verdicts.  

Reacting to the rulings, defense lawyer Mohamed Abdelaziz, director of Al-Haqanya foundation of rights and freedoms, on Sunday said:  "We are in a state of shock since yesterday."

Mokhtar Mounir, a rights lawyer from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, also said: “The whole case is built on random arrests.”  

Sources say the individuals were convicted of breaking a 2013 law that effectively bans street protests and traffic disruption.

Hundreds of  people have been arrested and charged for taking part in demonstrations on April 15 and 25 against Cairo’s decision to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia under a deal negotiated in near total secrecy.

The administration of President President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been under fire since it announced in a statement released on April 9 that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia as stipulated in a maritime border agreement signed between Cairo and Riyadh the previous day.

Opposition figures and legal experts and have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the agreement, arguing that relinquishing authority over Egyptian territory is unconstitutional. Sisi’s government is reportedly receiving USD 20 billion in aid from Saudi Arabia in return for the handover of sovereignty.

A large number of activists have also taken to online social networks, accusing el-Sisi of surrendering Egyptian territory in return for Saudi money.

The Tiran Island is located at the entrance of the Straits of Tiran, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic significance lies in the fact that it is an important sea passage to the major ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.

Sanafir Island is in the east of Tiran Island, and measures 33 square kilometers (13 square miles) in area. Tel Aviv regime took over the two islands in 1967 during the Six-Day War.

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