Two Alexandrian activists were taken into detention on Saturday while attending a court hearing for protesting without permit against the Tiran and Sanafir maritime border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The activists, identified as rights lawyer Mahienour al-Massry and Bread and Freedom Party member Moatasem Medhat, will be held in detention pending verdict, which is set to be announced on December 30.

Three additional defendants, Bread and Freedom Party members Asmaa Naeem and Zeyad Aboul Fadl, as well as Walid al-Emary, a lawyer and member of the Dostour Party, did not attend the Saturday session and were not detained by the court.

Several political activists protested on June 14 in the Alexandrian neighborhood of Miami against the ratification of the maritime border agreement that cedes sovereignty of the Red Sea islands. While no protesters were arrested at the time, several lawyers and activists found out by chance that legal action had been taken against them.

According to lawyer Taher Aboul Nasr, the five defendants face charges of assembly, protesting without a permit, threat of force and insulting the president.

Al-Massry was released from prison in August 2016 after serving a 15-month sentence for allegedly storming the Raml Police Station in Alexandria in March 2013 and attacking policemen.

In 2014, al-Massry was the recipient of the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, an award given to a lawyer, regardless of nationality or Bar, whose work has illustrated the defense of human rights, the supremacy of law, or the support of the resistance against racism and intolerance in any form, according to the award’s official website.

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