Egypt Court Cuts Jail Term of Prominent Activist

An Egyptian appeals court in Alexandria on Sunday reduced a two-year jail sentence for award-winning activist Mahienour el-Massry for holding an illegal protest to six months, her lawyer said.

After the army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last July, the authorities launched a harsh crackdown on both Islamists and the secular opposition.

Dozens of youth activists have been jailed for protesting illegally, after a law banning all but police-sanctioned rallies was adopted in November.

Massry, who was also detained during the rule of Hosni Mubarak and Morsi, was again jailed in May by authorities installed by then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for holding an unlicensed protest in the Mediterranean city.

"She has already completed three months of her sentence and has another six months to serve," lawyer Karim Abdel Radi told Agence France-Presse, adding that his client also has to pay a fine of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (about $7,000, 5,000 euros).

Massry was earlier jailed for two years by a lower court for participating in an illegal demonstration.

While behind bars in June, she was awarded France's 2014 Ludovic Trarieux award for defending human rights.