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A group of 14 women jailed for protests in support of Egypt's ousted president will soon be free, after an Alexandria court revised their 11-year sentences, state news reported.
The women had been
sentenced Wednesday -- along with seven minors facing juvenile detention
-- on charges of gathering, thuggery and weapons possession at a
demonstration in support of former President Mohamed Morsy.
The sentence sparked wide
criticism of the Interior Ministry and the judiciary's handling of
cases involving those detained for publicly backing Morsy, who has been
in custody since being pushed out in July.
Police arrest head of arrested women's defense team
It also set the stage for
Saturday's appeals hearing in Alexandria. That ended with the court's
decision to release the 14 women, giving them instead suspended one-year
sentences, according to Egypt's state-run Al Ahram newspaper.
The appeals court also acquitted the detained girls, who ranged in age from 15 to 17.
Egypt has been mired in
political and social turmoil since massive, peaceful protests in 2011 --
amid the broader Arab Spring movement that targeted many entrenched
leaders in the Middle East -- led to the exit of longtime leader Hosni
Mubarak.
Morsy took power as
Egypt's first popularly elected president in June 2012. But his time was
marked by continued unrest, much of it targeting him and the Muslim
Brotherhood, the once-banned Islamist organization that he once led.
Conditions in the North
African country have not improved significantly since the military
forced off Morsy and assumed control. Authorities have taken various
steps to quell the social unrest, including legislation passed last
month barring unauthorized protests.
These efforts have most
noticeably targeted Morsy supporters, though authorities have
increasingly cracked down on non-Islamist activists who oppose the
military-led regime and Morsy.
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