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September 18, 2023

Rights Groups Condemn Egyptian Court's Sentencing of Journalist and Activist Hisham Kassem
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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.


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