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| Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences of 11 years in prison to 21 female supporters of the ousted Islamist president, many of them juveniles, for holding a protest. |
CAIRO (AP) --
Nearly two dozen Islamist women and girls, some as young as 15, were
handed heavy prison sentences Wednesday for protesting in a court ruling
that came a day after police beat and terrorized prominent female
activists in a crackdown on secular demonstrators under a tough new
anti-protest law.
The harshness of the
sentences and the scenes a day earlier were new signs that the
military-backed government is becoming bolder in silencing dissent,
turning to abuses reminiscent of the Hosni Mubarak era.
Authorities have
been justifying tougher measures as needed to fight terrorism and bring
stability - while they also appear to be exploiting divisions among
secular democracy activists.
The crackdown is
rearranging Egypt's political map after months when authorities were
focused on crippling the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist backers
of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
This week,
security forces have moved against secular youth activists opposed to
the military and police. Some government supporters warn that its
actions are widening the base of the opposition and could bring together
Morsi supporters and the secular activists, though they bitterly oppose
the Islamists and Morsi as equally authoritarian. The crisis is
fragmenting the loose coalition of liberal and secular groups that
supported the military in its July 3 removal of Morsi.
In
a Mediterranean city of Alexandria courtroom, the 21 young female
defendants flashed defiant smiles to the media, standing handcuffed in
white head scarves and white prison uniforms in the defendants cage.
They were convicted on charges related to holding an Oct. 31 protest in
the city demanding Morsi's reinstatement.
Among
them were seven teenagers aged 15 and 16, who were sentenced to prison
terms until they turn 18. The rest - most aged 18 to 22 - were sentenced
to 11 years in prison. Six other Brotherhood members were sentenced to
15 years in prison for inciting the demonstrations.
"We
thought they will get a month or something but we were shocked with the
11 years," defense lawyer al-Shimaa Ibrahim Saad said.
The
Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said
the sentences are meant to be a "deterrent" for the group's opposition
to the military, vowing the verdict "will only increase the
determination of the people to get their rights."
Meanwhile,
hundreds of secular youth activists protested Wednesday in downtown
Cairo against the government's clampdown on dissent. At the center of
the crisis is the law issued this week banning any protests or public
political gatherings of more than 10 people without a prior police
permit, imposing stiff fines and jail terms for violators.
"Those
thinking the authoritarian pharaonic style works will find it doesn't
anymore," said one protester, Laila Soueif. "There will be a third wave
of the revolution much more violent than before. We are witnessing a
turning point."
A day earlier, security forces
broke up two small activists' protests in Cairo. Security forces beat
and dragged women protesters outside parliament.
The
images were reminiscent of the days of Mubarak, the autocrat who ruled
the country for nearly 30 years and was ousted in a 2011 uprising. Under
his rule, police at times focused on humiliating female protesters.
Similarly, under the rule of the military that followed his ouster,
police broke up an anti-military protest, half-stripping a female
protester and stomping on her chest.
After
breaking up Tuesday's protest, police detained 14 women, then drove them
in a van through the desert where they were dropped off on a remote
road in the middle of the night, several of the women said. That too is a
tactic used by Mubarak-era police to intimidate protesters.
"They
want to terrorize us," said Mona Seif, a prominent activist who was
among the 14 women. "I think the interior minister decided to escalate
and tell everyone whose family was killed... beaten or anything that I
am here, this is how I do business, and if you don't like it, beat your
head against the wall."
In the face of the
criticism, the Cabinet issued a strongly worded statement saying it is
determined to implement the new protest law with "all firmness and force
... so freedom doesn't turn to chaos." It linked it to a "war on
terrorism" - pointing to the Brotherhood protests and violence by
Islamic militants in Sinai.
"There are elements that want to spread domestic chaos in a desperate attempt to hurt the prestige of the state," it said.
The
law comes ahead of an election season that will include a referendum on
amendments to the Islamist-drafted, Morsi-era constitution. Authorities
have shown they are eager to push through the new charter - but they
could face troubles in the January vote on two fronts.
Secular
activists oppose the document because of wider powers it gives the
military and the president. The Brotherhood rejects the entire amendment
process - along with the new government in general - and although it
has been weakened by a crackdown, it has kept up protests for over 20
weeks and can still mobilize against the document.
On
Wednesday, the prosecutor general's office ordered 24 people who were
arrested in Tuesday's activist protest to be held for four days for
questioning on possible charges of violating the protest law.
In
a statement, the prosecutors office accused the protesters of "chanting
antagonistic slogans against the state" and refusing to end their
rally. It said the demonstration "disturbed traffic and affected
citizens' interests," terms mentioned in the protest law as violations
justifying police action. It also accused them of attacking a police
officer and taking his telephone.
The
prosecutor also ordered the arrests of Alaa Abdel-Fattah and Ahmed
Maher, two top activists, on suspicion of inciting others to break the
protest law, the state news agency MENA said.
In
a sign of the Islamists' eagerness to find a common cause with secular
activists, the Brotherhood-led coalition supporting Morsi reached out to
them Wednesday with a statement denouncing "brutal repression" of the
protests the day before, saying the "youth of the revolution stand
united."
The spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood-led coalition, Diaa al-Sawi, said he will contact youth activists to coordinate rallies.
They
met a quick rejection, however, from the youth activists, who joined
the massive anti-Morsi protests that preceded his ouster.
"A
message to the Muslim Brotherhood: we will not put our hands in the
hands of those who betrayed and hijacked the revolution," said Hossam
Moanis, spokesman of one activist group, the Popular Current.
