A court convicted leading Egyptian government opponent Ayman Nour of forgery on Saturday and sentenced him to five years in prison. According to the AP, Nour was the runner-up in September's presidential elections. His guilty verdict provoked an uproar from hundreds of supporters in and around the courtroom.
On Tuesday, 14 Egyptian human rights groups urged the government to release Nour, who was in a prison hospital after starting a hunger strike 10 days earlier.
Nour’s Al Ghad Party issued a statement signed by 14 groups including the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights that said Nour’s trial had “become a means to oppress him and punish him for his political views”.
Nour has pleaded not guilty to ordering the forging of signatures to register his party last year.
