A Cairo court has delayed an appeal against the jail sentences of well-known political activists Ahmed Douma, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed to 10 February.

The appellate court also refused on Monday to suspend the jail sentences handed out to Douma, Maher and Adel for allegedly staging unauthorised protests and attacking security forces last November.

The three men are leading figures of the protests that ignited the popular revolt against deposed president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Maher founded the April 6 Youth movement and Adel is an active member of the group. Douma is a long-time activist. Together they were sentenced last month to three years in jail and fined LE50,000.

According to a recently-enacted protest law, demonstrations that are not authorized by the police are punishable with jail terms and fines.