Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
Egyptian political activist Sanaa Seif has been jailed for 18 months for spreading false information about COVID-19 in local prisons.
Seif, 27, an activist and film editor who became involved in the Egyptian revolution in 2011, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Wednesday, according to her lawyers.
Amnesty International slammed the ruling as “another crushing blow” to Egyptians’ right to freedom of expression.
Amnesty International spokesperson Amna Guellali said: “The Egyptian authorities have yet again demonstrated their unrelenting intent to punish any criticism of their dismal human rights record.”
Seif’s brother is Alaa Abdel Fattah, an imprisoned activist and a key figure in the Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
Seif, who worked on the documentary ‘The Square’ that covered the uprising in Egypt, was detained in June last year while protesting outside her brother’s prison over fears of the virus spreading in the country’s jails.
Prosecutors accused her of spreading fake news on Egypt’s health crisis and the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.
Human rights lawyer Nabih Al-Ganadi said she was handed an 18-month sentence, including a full year for ‘spreading false information’ and ‘using a social media account to commit a crime’ and a further six months for ‘defaming an official’.
Her sister Mona Seif previously said that she was charged with spreading fake information “about COVID-19”.
Human rights organisations believe there are around 60,000 political prisoners being held in Egyptian prisons since Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi took office in 2014.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
