An Egyptian court has sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources say.
It was the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters since the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in July and was seen by rights groups as part of a widening crackdown on demonstrations by military-installed authorities.
Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel were also convicted of rioting and assaulting security forces during an unauthorised protest last month, and were fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($A8000) each, the sources said on Sunday.
The three activists chanted "down with the military regime", as the court gave its verdict, official news agency MENA reported.
Maher is the founder of the April 6 youth movement that led the revolt against Mubarak. All three defendants were leading dissidents under Mubarak, but they also supported the military's overthrow of Morsi, whom they accused of betraying the 2011 "revolution".
They were found guilty of violating a disputed law enacted last month that requires police authorisation for protests, less than three years after Mubarak was toppled by massive pro-democracy demonstrations.
Another prominent pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, has also been arrested for allegedly taking part in a violent and illegal protest. The date for his trial has yet to be determined.
Amr Ali, general co-ordinator of the April 6 youth movement, said the court verdict "aims to terrorise political activists so they would stop demonstrating against the failings of this regime".
He said the "roadmap" outlined by the new authorities for Egypt's transition to democracy "has become meaningless".
"The road map was to put in place a government which was to be the foundation of a democratic state, but what we see is a return to the practices of the repressive state of Mubarak," Ali told AFP.
"We don't recognise the roadmap. We appeal for a demonstration tomorrow (Monday) and on January 25 against the protest law and to demand release of pro-democracy activists."
In a separate development, another pro-democracy activist from the city of Suez, Bassem Mohsen, died on Sunday, two days after he was shot during clashes, medical sources and MENA reported. Mohsen had been jailed during Morsi's presidency.
