DHAKA: An Egyptian court has sentenced 23 activists to three years in jail for breaching a controversial protest law.

The activists include Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif - prominent civil rights campaigners.

There have been increasing complaints about restrictions on civil liberties since president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi came to power last year.

The protest law requires special permits from the authorities for any protest involving more than 10 people.

The defendants were accused of holding an illegal demonstration on 21 June to call for the release of detainees and the annulment of the protest law itself.

They are also being fined $1,400, reports the BBC.

Campaigner Sanaa Seif is the daughter of the late Ahmad Seif al-Islam, one of Egypt’s leading civil rights lawyers and campaigners who died in August.

Sanna Seif’s brother, the prominent blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, was released on bail in September while he appeals against a 15-year jail term for violating the same protest law and assaulting a policeman.

BDST: 2213 HRS, OCT 26, 2014