Leading critic of Egyptian state jailed for six months

Free speech advocate Hisham Kassem sentenced for defaming former minister Kamal Abu Eita

A court in Cairo has sentenced a former newspaper publisher, free speech advocate and rights activist to six months in prison in a trial observers say constitutes an attack on a leading critic of the Egyptian state.

Hisham Kassem, the former publisher of Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, received six months in detention and a fine of 20,000 EGP (approximately 523) for slandering and defaming Kamal Abu Eita. Abu Eita is a former minister and current member of Egypt's presidential pardon committee, tasked with granting clemency towards some of the tens of thousands of detainees in the Egyptian prison system.