CAIRO, Feb 9 (Aswat Masriya) – A misdemeanor court in Alexandria sentenced 10 people to two years in prison and fined each 5,000 Egyptian pounds (around $650) on Monday.

Lawyer Abdelrahman al-Gohary, who is on the defence team said three of the defendants were in attendance during the trial, while seven were sentenced in absentia. He added that the verdict is subject to appeal and that the defence team is appealing it.    

Among the defendants is activist and human lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, the recipient of the 2014 Ludovic Trarieux Award for human rights.

The trial is related to an incident which took place in March 2013, during the rule of ousted president Mohamed Mursi.

The people on trial say a police officer assaulted a lawyer outside a police station. In solidarity, a group of lawyers and activists went to the station demanding an apology and were reportedly arrested and charged then.

However, the prosecution said the defendants "assaulted security forces and attempted to storm" the police station.  

Massry was arrested last May and was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds for violating Egypt's protest law in December, 2013. Her prison sentence was later reduced to six months and she was eventually released in September after her lawyer's appealed the prison sentence.