A court in Egypt has sentenced one of the nation’s best-known journalists and political activists to six months in prison, in a case that’s drawn condemnation from human rights groups. Sixty-four-year-old Hisham Kassem was convicted on what supporters say are trumped-up charges of slander, defamation and verbal assault on a police officer. Kassem is a co-founder of the Free Current Movement of liberal political parties in Egypt and is seen as a possible challenger to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the upcoming 2024 election. His arrest came after he criticized a member of Egypt’s Presidential Pardon Committee for failing to help grant clemency to Egypt’s thousands of political prisoners.
Rights Groups Condemn Egyptian Court’s Sentencing of Journalist and Activist Hisham Kassem
HeadlineSep 18, 2023