NGO Employees Get Five Years for 'Working Illegally' in Egypt

They need another revolution

A court in Cairo has convicted 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of non-governmental (NGO) organisations for working illegally in Egypt.

The court sentenced the defendants - most of them in absentia - to jail terms of up to five years.

It also ordered the closure of offices and the seizure of assets in Egypt belonging to several US NGOs.

The case - which began in 2012 - has strained relations between Cairo and Washington.

US officials had threatened to cut off the roughly $1.5bn (£980m) in aid paid to Egypt every year.