The undersigned human rights organizations condemn the verdict sentencing the former spokesperson of the April 6 Youth Movement and political activist, Mohamed Adel, to four years in prison, after he already spent five years in pretrial detention, in a case stemming solely from his peaceful exercise of freedom of expression. The undersigned organizations assert that this verdict demonstrates that the Egyptian authorities, including the judiciary, are targeting political activists with bogus charges and subjecting them to unfair trials as a punishment for their peaceful activities, despite presidential initiatives and government statements attempting to imply an improvement in the human rights situation in Egypt. The organizations call for the immediate release of Mohamed Adel and other prisoners of conscience in Egypt.
