Prominent Egypt leftwing activist goes on trial

A leftwing activist who played a prominent role in the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak stands trial on Sunday amid a crackdown on protests by Egypt's new military-installed regime. Alaa Abdel Fattah, who also opposed Mubarak's deposed Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi, is charged with taking part in an unauthorised and violent protest along with 24 co-defendants. His trial is set to begin as another court resumes the trial of Morsi, ousted by the military in July, on charges of involvement in the killing of opposition activists during his single year in power. The authorities have banned all but police-sanctioned protests and arrested thousands of activists, mostly Islamists, in Egypt's most extensive crackdown on opposition in decades. More than 2,000 people have been put on trial, including Morsi and the leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood movement, as well as secular activists such as Fattah who supported the Islamist's overthrow. More than 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed in street clashes since Morsi's removal, rights group Amnesty International says. Three prominent secular activists who spearheaded the early 2011 uprising that overthrew Mubarak have already been sentenced to three years in prison for joining unsanctioned protests last year. Mubarak himself is on trial for allegedly inciting the killings of protesters during the uprising. A court had sentenced him to life in prison but he won a retrial. Source: AFP