An Egyptian court today sentenced 23 pro-democracy activists to three years in prison and imposed a fine on them for participating in an illegal protest last year.
The activists participated in protests last June to call for the release of the detainees and the annulment of a law that bans all but police-sanctioned demonstrations.
The Cairo court also ordered each of the 23 defendants to pay a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about USD 1,390).
The activists include Sanaa Seif, the sister of prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for breaking the controversial protest law.
Although Alaa and two others are still appealing their sentence, they were released last month on bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds.
Some of the activists had supported the military's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year which led to a deadly crackdown on the Islamist supporters.
