Abdeen Misdemeanour Court upheld on Monday the prison sentence served to Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the 6 April Youth Movement; Mohamed Adel, a member of 6 April’s political bureau; and Ahmed Douma, a well-known blogger.

The activists were each sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour and fined EGP 50,000 on 22 December.

They were convicted for protesting without the Ministry of Interior’s approval under the controversial Protest Law, rioting, “thuggery”, using violence against Abdeen Courthouse security personnel and possessing melee weapons.

During the 10 March hearing, the detained activists said they were assaulted by the security officers who were transporting them from Tora Prison to court, state-owned Al-Ahram reported.

The defence team representing the activist withdrew from court at the detainees’ request. The activists also asked their lawyers to file a complaint to prove the assault.

The National Council for Human Rights issued a report in January detailing the “suffering” of activists in detainment and asking the Ministry of Interior to stop mistreating detainees.

The ministry has repeatedly denied torturing detainees.