CAIRO, Nov 1 (Aswat Masriya) – A Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced on Saturday former Presidential Spokesman Yasser Ali to six months in prison for assisting former Prime Minister Hisham Qandil in escaping and evading judicial prosecution.

The former spokesperson, who was appointed by ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2012, was also charged with joining the "terrorist" Muslim Brotherhood organisation.

Ibrahim Hamami, Ali's lawyer, told Aswat Masriya that the defendant has already served the six months in preventive detention and must therefore be released from custody.

Ali was arrested on December 31, 2013. He served as the coordinator of Mursi's presidential campaign in 2012, and was appointed as the official spokesperson for the presidency until February 2013. He was later appointed head of the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

The sentenced spokesman resigned on June 21, 2014, citing the country's "critical situation" as the reason for his resignation.

He was referred to criminal court on August 23 along with 12 other co-defendants.