The Cairo Misdemeanour Court of Appeals upheld on Monday a three-year sentence and LE50,000 fines against activists Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Doma, rejecting their appeal.

According to their lawyer Gamal Eid, the defendants may still appeal to the Court of Cassation, the proceedings of which, however, notoriously extend for indefinite lengths of time.

On 22 December 2013, an Egyptian misdemeanour court had sentenced the three leading activists – known for being at the forefront of Egypt's 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak – to three years in jail and an LE50,000 fine each on charges including organising protests without seeking a police permit, as required by a new disputed protest law.

Founding members of the April 6 Youth Movement Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, as well as long-time activist Ahmed Douma, stand charged of allegedly assaulting police officers during a demonstration outside a Cairo court where Maher was handing himself in for questioning over the allegations pertaining to illegal protesting.

Several thousand members of the April 6 Youth Movement protested on the group's seventh anniversary on Sunday, demanding the release of detainees.