Egypt jails prominent dissident for six months: lawyer

An Egyptian court has sentenced liberal opposition figure Hisham Kassem to six months in prison, his lawyer and political movement said, a move that bars him from running in next year's presidential election.

Kassem was also slapped with a 20,000 pound (about $650) fine after being found guilty of defaming a former minister and "contempt of officials", Gameela Ismail, a member of his Free Current liberal opposition movement, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

His lawyer Nasser Amin wrote on Facebook that the verdict would be appealed in a court hearing set to take place on October 7.

Kassem had begun a hunger strike, his supporters said earlier this month, after the opening of his trial, before ending it days ago.

He was initially summoned after a former minister complained he had shared online articles suggesting the minister had embezzled funds.

The opposition activist was later accused of "contempt" by officers during questioning at a police station. He has been in custody since August 20.

Kassem's Free Current coalition, formed in June by opposition parties, advocates economic liberalisation and calls for an end to the army's stranglehold on the Egyptian economy.

London-based Amnesty International on Thursday called on Egypt's authorities to "immediately release" Kassem, saying he had been "arbitrarily detained".

"The prosecution of Hisham Kassem for simply posting critical messages online is a signal that the Egyptian authorities' relentless campaign to silence peaceful critics and punish dissent... is continuing in full force," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's research and advocacy director in the region.

Egypt has around 60,000 political prisoners, human rights groups estimate.

But despite the release of nearly 1,000 in the past year, non-governmental organisations say almost three times as many have been detained over the same period.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to announce his candidacy for next year's election, though he has not yet done so.

Former army chief Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after he led the military ouster of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.