Lawyers for three prominent activists have walked out of court in protest at the alleged beating of their clients by security personnel on Monday.

The Cairo misdemeanour appeals court  scheduled a session for 7 April to return a verdict on the appeal lodged by Ahmed Douma, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed on their three-year prison sentences.

The trio asked the court to document the assault -- which allegedly took place while they were being transferred from Tora prison -- in the trial records.

They also asked their lawyers to withdraw from court in response to the alleged assault.

The court has delegated the prosecution to look into the alleged beating of the defendants.

In December 2013, the three were sentenced to three years in jail and fined LE50,000 each for organising unauthorised protests and assaulting police officers.

Douma is a member of the Nasserist Popular Current. Maher and Adel are founding members of the April 6 Youth Movement.