Egyptian court acquits 52 over Red Sea islands protests
CAIRO - An Egyptian court acquitted on Tuesday 52 people who were standing trial for protesting against a government decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, judicial sources said.
More than 200 people initially faced trial for taking part in several protests in April against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
On April 15, thousands of people protesting over the islands called for "the fall of the regime", a slogan from the 2011 uprisings which ended the 30-year-rule of president Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of police were deployed in Cairo to quell further protests on April 25.
Authorities later freed many of those detained without charge, but sent others to trial.
