A military court on Monday ruled in favour of nine of the 14 Alexandria protesters, while the other five were sentenced to a suspended one-year prison sentence on charges of attacking a military installation in Alexandria on 22 July.
Protesters were detained during clashes after hundreds of protesters blocked the coastal road near the army’s northern command headquarters.
The No Military Trials campaign, along with other human rights activists, had since been working on their release. “I am glad that they’ve been released from the military prison, yet [I am] not fine with the suspended one-year sentence for people who did nothing,” Mona Seif, a rights activist with No Military Trials, told Ahram Online.
The Alexandria protesters’ latest trial was on the same day of the court case against ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, in Cairo on 15 August which led to their trial’s delay.
Those facing military trials in Alexandria include Kefaya member Mohamed Mansour and independent activist Abdallah Khaled. Another individual, discovered to be a former personnel of the newly formed National Security, was arrested by demonstrators during the Alexandria sit-in after being suspected of inciting violence and tensions. He too will be facing trial.
Military trials began in Egypt on 28 January, the first day the military was deployed during the 18-day uprising. Activists in the No Military Trial campaign state that there are more than 10,000 civilians currently being subjected to military trials. This has lead to an ongoing debate to end this and send civilians to civil courts instead.
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