Ex-Egypt prez guilty

AN EGYPTIAN court convicted former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and 19 others on Saturday of insulting the judiciary, sentencing them to three years in prison in a court session aired on TV.

The case involves 25 defendants — including prominent rights activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and political commentator Amr Hamzawy — who were fined $1,688. Abdel-Fattah is serving a five-year sentence for participating in an illegal protest in 2013. Hamzawy lives in exile.

All the defendants are accused of insulting the judiciary by making statements that on TV, radio, social media or in publications that the court found to be inciting and expressing contempt toward the court and the judiciary.

The court ordered Morsi to pay $56,270 as compensation to one of the judges. It also ordered 23 of the defendants, including Morsi, to pay the same amount each to a powerful union of judges known as the Judges Club, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

Also on Saturday, another court sentenced prominent activist and rights lawyer Mahinour el-Masry to two years in prison over participating in an illegal protest against the government’s transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, lawyer Taher Aboelnasr said. The 2016 deal between the two countries sparked rare protests in Egypt. All the verdicts can be appealed.