London – May 16, 2016
(Ikshef) – A Cairo criminal court has sentenced the photographer Ali Abdeen to two years in jail
Abdeen – aka Ali Beka – works for the news website Al-Fajr, and was convicted on May 14 alongside 50 others for “inciting illegal protests, obstructing traffic, and publishing false news”.
Abdeen was arrested in downtown Cairo on April 25 while trying to cover protests against an Egyptian government deal to hand control of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Al-Fajr presented testimonies to police and court that he was covering the protests for the website at the time of his arrest.
58 journalists were detained on April 25, most of them have been released. That day witnessed scores of violations against journalists, including detentions, beatings, and cameras’ confiscations.
