A Cairo court sentenced three Egyptian activists today to two years in prison each for vandalising a memorial dedicated to slain protesters in the capital's central Tahrir Square, viewed by many in the country's youth movement as an attempt to appropriate the legacy of victims of the state's own security forces.
Meanwhile, security forces sealed off the square with armored vehicles and barbed wire after hundreds of anti-military protesters rallied near it, just days before the third anniversary of Egypt's January 25, 2011, uprising.
Groups across the political spectrum have called for competing rallies Saturday, some calling for a new revolution and others calling for the country's military chief to become president.
The three protesters were charged with being part of a group that vandalized the memorial in November on another politically charged anniversary, two years after notorious street battles with police in which dozens died but no one was held responsible.
Egyptian activists say they are now regularly prosecuted, painted by the media as traitors, and subjected to intimidation, a stark contrast to post-Mubarak days when activists were hailed as national heroes.
The country has experienced regular bouts of political violence since the 2011 ouster of longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, but the violence escalated after June 30, when millions took to the streets demanding their first elected President Mohammed Morsi step down.
A military coup led by army commander Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi ousted Morsi but sparked a new wave of non-stop street clashes and demonstrations by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group and supporters.
Hundreds were killed in by an ensuing state crackdown and thousands arrested.
El-Sissi's supporters say they plan to use the Jan. 25 date to call for him to run for president, saying he is the only leader strong enough to stem the unrest.
Morsi's group meanwhile said yesterday that they wanted secular-leaning groups to rally together with them to bring down the post-coup political order, a demand those secular-leaning groups immediately shot down.
