Egyptian student sentenced to 8 years for Facebook posts
An Egyptian court has sentenced a 17-year-old high school student to eight years in prison for allegedly joining the Muslim Brotherhood and using Facebook to spread "hatred of the regime."
Egyptian authorities took Raaga Imara and her father in for "questioning" on Jan. 5, but only released her father.
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Imara allegedly runs Students Against the Coup, a Facebook page with more than 227,000 likes that contains writings and imagery against the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Former General Sisi came to power in 2013 as the military overthrew the elected government of former President Mohammed Morsi. The new government has since arrested hundreds of people they claim belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, a now-banned religious organization of which Morsi is associated. Many of those supposed members and affiliates have been sentenced to death.
Imara's family has reportedly said she is not a Muslim Brotherhood member.
Several people have tried to bring awareness to Imara's case on Twitter via the hashtag, #Rjae_ammarh.
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The Muslim Brotherhood is also trying to raise awareness on the website of its political branch, the Freedom and Justice Party.
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Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
