Egypt Student Sentenced To 4 Years In Jail For "Spreading False News"

Ahmed Samir, a master's student in Vienna, was arrested in February after returning to Egypt. Authorities have also accused him of "belonging to a terrorist organisation".

An Egyptian court Tuesday convicted a university student to four years in prison for "spreading false news", rights groups said, in a sentence Amnesty International labelled "outrageous". Ahmed Samir, a master's student at the Central European University in Vienna studying women's reproductive rights, was arrested in February after returning to Egypt on a family visit. Authorities have not specified the reason for his arrest but have accused him of "spreading false news" and "belonging to a terrorist organisation". Such accusations are frequently levelled against political and human rights activists in Egypt.