Blogger Gets 5 Years in Egyptian Prison

An Egyptian court sentenced a pro-democracy blogger who was a vocal supporter of the 2011 revolution to five years in prison. Alaa Abdel-Fattah was convicted Monday for breaking the country’s protest laws, specifically the 2013 measure that prohibits citizens from organizing demonstrations that have not been authorized by the government. According to reports from the court, spectators in the gallery shouted “Down with oppression!” and “Down with military rule!” when the sentence was announced. Abdel-Fattah has been an outspoken opponent in Egypt and did not support the 2013 military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi. His sentence comes a day after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to free wrongly jailed youths. The verdict came hours after it was announced the trial of two Al Jazeera journalists would be postponed until March 8 due to lack of evidence.