Egypt Jails Islamic Activists

An Egyptian court on Thursday convicted 26 people, including three Britons, of trying to revive an outlawed Islamic group and sentenced them to one to five years in prison.

Following the sentencing, all of them burst into shouts of "God is Great, thanks be to God!"

The three Britons — Ian Malcolm Nisbett, Maajid Nawaz and Reza Pankhurst — were each sentenced to five years. One of the 26 was convicted in absentia.

The defendants, first arrested in April 2002, were accused of attempting to revive Hizb-ut-Tahrir — or Islamic Liberation Party — which was banned by the government after an alleged failed coup in 1974.

"We're not sad," said Nisbett, 29, who now goes by Yehiya Nisbett. "We've always known that they're oppressors. Now they are confirming that. Thank God for everything."

Nisbett's British wife, Humayra, who does not understand Arabic, started crying quietly when he indicated his sentence by holding up his hand with all five fingers extended.

Pankhurst's mother, Zara, said it was a "goofy trial with a goofy judge," but did not seem disheartened by the verdict.

"Thank God, they are not going to beat us, we are strong," she told The Associated Press.

In London, Pankhurst's wife, Hodan, lamented the verdict.

"This was our worst nightmare and it has happened," she said. "There is nothing legally we can do about it now."

Lawyers for the defendants had said the group was only studying the ideologies of the Islamic Liberation Party and not recruiting others to follow its thinking.

The Islamic Liberation Party was formed in Jordan in 1953 by Taqi Eddin al-Nabahani, a Palestinian who died in unclear circumstances in the Palestinian territories in 1978. The group has long been underground and its current leader is Palestinian Abdul-Kaddim Zalloum, whose whereabouts are unknown.

According to a Hisb-ut-Tahir Web site, the group's objective is "bringing the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life."

"The oppressive rulers in Iraq, Syria, Libya and others have killed dozens of its members," the site contends. "The prisons of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia are full of its members."

Jordan arrested five alleged members of the group in 2002, and Syria sentenced five members in 2003, according to press reports.

Egypt has come in for criticism in the way it handles dissent.

"Torture is widespread in Egypt, and basic liberties such as freedom of association and freedom of speech are sharply restricted," Human Rights Watch claims.