The conviction of 43 non-governmental organization workers violates the right to freedom of association, said a statement on Human Rights Watch's official page on Wednesday.

A Cairo criminal court sentenced 43 civil society activists to one to five years in prison on Tuesday on charges of operating illegally in Egypt and receiving foreign funding without permission.  

The New York-based NGO added that the court's ruling is based on "a repressive law as well as penal code provisions that do not respect basic rights."

“These are unjust convictions based on an unjust law,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director.

She added, “These workers for independent organizations should never have been charged in the first place. What’s particularly disheartening is that the new draft NGO law the Mursi government has proposed reflects the same suspicion of independent organizations that was the driving force behind the trial.”