Cairo – An Egyptian military court on Monday reduced the sentence of security expert Ismail Alexandrani, whose incarceration since 2015 has become a symbol of the repression of academics, his lawyer said.
Alexandrani, who was arrested in November 2015, is an expert on jihadist movements in Sinai, where security forces have battled an insurgency led by the Islamic State group.
In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, accused of publishing military secrets and belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood – a term cut by an appeal court on Monday to seven years.
As Ismail Alexandrani was arrested in November 2015, he only has one month left” to serve, his lawyer Tarek Abdelal said in a statement posted on social media.
An Egyptian military court reduced the sentence of a security expert, whose incarceration since 2015 has become a symbol of the repression of academics. @hrw @AlsisiOfficial #Egypt @COP27P https://t.co/uEeNAr3WHl
— TRENDS (@mena_trends) October 18, 2022
“As Ismail Alexandrani was arrested in November 2015, he only has one month left” to serve, his lawyer Tarek Abdelal said in a statement posted on social media.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with 104 million residents, draws regular criticism over its rights record.
Advocacy groups say there are currently about 60,000 political prisoners in the country, an issue that rights groups hope to raise at the United Nations COP27 climate summit, which will open on November 6 in Egypt.
Cairo has faced frequent criticism of its rights record under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted late Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and was elected president the following year.
Egypt ranks in the lowest group in the Academic Freedom Index.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@maitelsadany
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