Egyptian Activist To Be Freed On Bail

Mr Abdul Fattah had been sentenced to 15 years in jail for violating a strict anti-protest law.

He is currently facing a re-trial in the case.

Mr Fattah gained fame during the 2011 uprising against the then-President, Hosni Mubarak.

His arrest had heightened fears of a crackdown on dissent in Egypt.

The 15-year sentence was one of the harshest ever awarded to a non-Islamist activist in the country.

Fattah had been charged with assaulting a policeman during an illegal protest.

He was sentenced in June, along with 24 others, but was not allowed to be in court for the verdict.

Fattah's lawyer Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, said that the judge presiding over the re-trial had stepped down at the request of the defense team.

He said the judge had also ordered an investigation into the prosecutor's use of Fattah's personal videos, "which violated the accused's privacy".

By Anne Muchiri

Source: BBC News