An Alexandria misdemeanor court sentenced on Saturday activist and human rights lawyer Mahinour El-Masry and rights lawyer Moatasem Medhat each to two years in prison for illegally demonstrating against the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal last June.

Three other defendants, Asmaa Naeim, Waleed El Amary and Ziad Abo El Fadl, were handed three-year prison terms in absentia by the same court, according to the “Free Mahienour” campaign page on Facebook.

In June, lawyers in Egypt's second-biggest city organised a demonstration in front of an Alexandria court to protest a parliament debate over the border demarcation agreement, which places the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir under Saudi control.

All verdicts can still be appealed, with the court setting 13 January for an appeal hearing, according to El-Masry’s family.

El-Masry served 15 months in prison in 2015 and 2016 for "storming" an Alexandria police station in 2013.

She also served four months of a six-month sentence in 2014 for illegal protesting during the retrial of Khaled Said murder case in December 2013.

Hundreds have been tried for illegally protesting against the April 2016 Red Sea islands deal. Many have since been released after paying hefty fines.

Last June, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified the demarcation deal shortly after a parliamentary approval in favor of the agreement.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/286275.aspx