Egypt Jails 14 Female Brotherhood Members

Local Editor

Egyptian authorities Wednesday jailed 14 women said to be Muslim Brotherhood members for 11 years, and ordered the arrest of two leading activists for demonstrating against a disputed protest law.

A court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria sentenced the 14 women who it said were from the Brotherhood after convicting them of belonging to a "terrorist organization," judicial sources said.
It also sentenced six men, said to be Brotherhood leaders, to 15 years, the sources said, adding the convicts were immediately transferred to prison.

The men were found guilty of inciting the women to block key roads in the city during clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president Mohammed Mursi on October 31.
Their sentencing is the latest in an ongoing government crackdown against Mursi's supporters since the he was toppled on July 3.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian prosecutor has ordered the arrest of two prominent activists for inciting protests, a source in the prosecutor's office said on Wednesday, including one whose group helped lead the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The arrests of Ahmad Maher, head of the April 6 youth movement, and Alaa Abdel Fattah - both symbols of the revolt - were ordered after they took part in demonstrations outside parliament on Tuesday defying a new law restricting protests.
Twenty-four other activists were detained on Tuesday for four days pending investigation of allegations of thuggery, attacking public employees, stealing wireless devices and protesting without permission from the Interior Ministry, said the source.

Four female activists who were detained were released along a desert highway, said a security source.
The new law, passed by the army-backed government on Sunday, has angered some Egyptians and drawn fire from human rights groups who describe it as a major blow to freedom in the most populous Arab country.
Egypt has experienced some of its worst civilian violence in decades after the army deposed Mursi in July. It has since introduced a political roadmap meant to lead to new elections next year.

Liberals and activists, who backed Mursi's overthrow, are now becoming more vocal against the military, which has backed a security crackdown against Brotherhood.
Hundreds have been killed and more than 2,000 arrested, including Mursi and the leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood group.
Pro-democracy activists have called for new demonstrations in central Cairo on Wednesday to focus attention on the law.
The government has said it is not opposed to peaceful protests and it wants to restore order in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with "Israel" and is home to the Suez Canal.
The law will further squeeze the Brotherhood, which hoped mass protests would reverse what it calls a military coup.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team