The Egyptian Court for Urgent Matters has banned all activities of the April 6 Youth Movement on charges of espionage and distorting the image of the Egyptian state. Lawyer Ashraf Saeed filed the lawsuit against the protest movement, which played a significant role in the January 25 ouster of Hosni Mubarak, accusing it of receiving foreign funding and plotting against the state institutions.
The April 6 Movement and the courts have already clashed over the new law against unauthorized demonstrations. Two of the movement’s founders, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, have been sentenced to three years imprisonment and fines of LE 50,000 for violating the protest law. The group plans to appeal the ban on its activities.