An Egyptian court on Saturday upheld an order to freeze assets of five leading human rights campaigners in a case related to claims of accepting foreign funds without government authorisation.
The Cairo Criminal Court confirmed earlier asset freezes issued by investigative judges against the five, the state Middle East News Agency reported.
Those affected by the freezes included Gamal Eid, the Head of the Cairo-based Arab Network for Human Rights Information and a vocal critic of the government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi.
The court did not uphold asset freezes against family members of the defendants, the agency reported.
The rulings can be appealed.
“We are proud to be against such an autocratic regime and we will keep working,” Eid said in a tweet.
Civil rights in Egypt have been increasingly restricted since 2013, when al-Sissi, then army chief, deposed Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, following massive protests against the latter’s rule. (dpa/NAN)