Egypt's Court of Cassation accepted an appeal against a five-year prison sentence and an EGP 100,000 fine for five female Al-Azhar University students arrested while protesting on campus in 2013.

The prosecution accused the five of joining an illegal organisation, obstructing the constitution, obstructing state institutions, illegal assembly and protesting without a permit.

The five girls, who were studying Sharia and law, commerce and dentistry, will be released pending a retrial.

The verdict from the retrial could be subject to appeal.

Violent clashes erupted on several occasions in the second half of 2013 between security forces and Al-Azhar students protesting the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July of that year.