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Egypt court jails anti-Mubarak activists for 3 years

An Egyptian court sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail on Sunday, for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources said.

The court order is the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters since the ouster of president Mohammed Mursi in July.

Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel were also found guilty of rioting and assaulting security forces during an unauthorised protest held last month, the sources said.

The three were fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($7,100, 5,200 euros) each, they added.

The three were the first pro-democracy activists to go on trial amid a massive months-long government crackdown on Islamists following the military’s July 3 overthrow of Mursi, the country’s first democratically elected leader.

Maher is the founder of the April 6 youth movement that led the revolt against Mubarak. All three defendants were leading dissidents under Mubarak, but they also supported the military’s overthrow of Mursi, whom they accused of betraying the 2011 “revolution.”