“Punishing an accused child militarily is not a solution or a way to achieve the aimed justice, on the contrary, it creates another problem; a bigger one.” Six minors were sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Alexandria military court over illegal protesting, torching and attacking public utilities in 2013. Like many human rights activists, Sara al-Sherif, a member of the No Military Trials for Civilians group, condemned the ruling, which is an application to a 2014 presidential decree that has expanded jurisdictions of military courts. The decree entails that the army would secure certain public utilities for two years; hence those who attack them may be tried militarily. The application of the decree in the minors’ case, however, was argued by a human rights group as “irrelevant” due to the absence of the condition “the army securing the utilities at the time of the attack.” “They are just children, how come they face same political charges drawn against 140 adults in the same case?” Mohamed el-Sayed, lawyer of Alexandria accused juveniles, told The Cairo Post. Per a 2014 amendment, defendants tried militarily may appeal their sentence. Alexandria minors…
