Egypt court upholds jailing of leading pro-democracy activists

[World News]

By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian appeals court on Monday upheld the jailing of three leading figures of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising, tightening a crackdown on secular activists opposed to the army-backed government. Critics see their case as an attempt to stifle the kind of street activism common since the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak three years ago as Egypt prepares for presidential elections next month. A court handed out three-year sentences to the three liberal activists, Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel, last December for protesting without permission and assaulting the police. The European Union and the United States had urged Egypt to reconsider the verdict.

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