CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt‘s public prosecutor referred leading political activist Ahmed Maher for trial on Thursday on charges including protesting without permission, a judicial official said.
It was the first case of an activist being charged under the provisions of a new law criticised for stifling the right to protest.
Wael Shibl, the prosecutor, said Maher faced other charges including assaulting police and “resisting the authorities”.
Two other activists being investigated in the same case were also referred for trial for assaulting the police and resisting the authorities. Shibl had earlier said all three had been charged with protesting without permission.
Maher is founder of the April 6 movement that helped ignite the historic 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak. The other two activists are Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel.
(This story corrects headline to reflect the different charges against the accused)
(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Egypt refers three leading activists for trial over protest
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