CAIRO, Jun 20 (Aswat Masriya) - An Egyptian court upheld on Monday the decision to release rights researcher at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) Mina Thabet on a bail of EGP 10,000. 

The court had ordered the release of Thabet on Saturday but the prosecution appealed the decision.

Thabet, who was the director of research on minorities and religious groups at ECRF, was arrested from his home on May 19.

He was accused of calling for protests on Apr. 25 against the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation agreement, stipulating that the strategic Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within Saudi Arabia's territorial waters.

He faced an array of other charges including inciting use of violence, inciting to overthrow the regime and joining a "terrorist group" that aims at disrupting the law and preventing state institutions from carrying out their duties. 

Several political factions and public figures called for protests on Apr. 25, which coincided with Sinai Liberation day, against the Egyptian-Saudi agreement.

The agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia stirred up controversy in Egypt when it was signed in April, with critics accusing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for “selling Egypt’s land” in return for Saudi aid.

The agreement, which has yet to be ratified in the Egyptian parliament, prompted thousands of Egyptians to take to the streets in rare protests on April 15 and April 25, amid a police campaign of mass arrests of activists opposed to the islands’ transfer.