CAIRO, Dec 4 (Aswat Masriya) - An Egyptian campaign to support child rights condemned the sentencing of a group of minors to 11 years in prison in Alexandria.

An Alexandria court has sentenced 21 women, including seven minors, on charges of obstructing traffic for participating in a protest backing deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

The court ruling rendered that the girls under the age of 18 be sent to a juvenile detention center.

Manadeel Waraq (Paper tissues) released a statement on the matter, saying that the arrest and detention of the girls violated local child law and international conventions on child rights signed and ratified by Egypt.

The statement underlined that “the court did not take into account the best interest of the girls as stipulated by law.”

“The detention of minors along with convicts endangers them and damages their academic future. This is a violent and inhumane revenge that goes against law and customs.”

The statement also denounced that the defendants were questioned inside Alexandria’s Security Headquarters, which “defies the integrity of investigations.”

Manadeel Waraq appealed to the authorities for an impartial non-politicised verdict, stressing the importance of keeping children away from political conflict.

The statement also pointed to the arrest of more than 400 children sine June on the backdrop of political events and street clashes, adding that at least 26 children were killed during clashes.