CAIRO,  Aug 27 (Aswat Masriya) - A Criminal Court upheld on Saturday the decision to release of human rights lawyer Malek Adly and rejected the prosecution's appeal against his release.

Adly was released last Thursday after having been in pre-trial detention for over three months.

He was arrested on May 6 for publicly opposing the maritime border demarcation agreement signed in April which saw Egypt handing the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

His detention was renewed several times since his arrest in May. According to his wife Asmaa Ali, Adly had been held in solitary confinement since his arrest, which led to a rapid deterioration of his health.

Prosecution accused him of inciting protest, publishing false news, possessing publications inciting against the state, joining an organisation that aims to disable the provisions of the constitution, and working to overthrow the regime.

The rights lawyer has been openly critical of the government and was among those who criticised the Egyptian-Saudi agreement on Facebook and asked Egyptians to authorise him to file a lawsuit with the administrative court to cancel the decision to cede the two islands..

The Egyptian-Saudi agreement stirred controversy and prompted thousands 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.

Last June, the administrative court annulled the agreement and affirmed that the two islands fall within Egypt's borders.

The State Lawsuits authority, the body representing the government in legal cases, had appealed the verdict before the Supreme Administrative Court.

The authority also challenged the annulment of the agreement before the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).