An Egyptian court has sentenced Patrick Zaki, a rights researcher who had been studying in Italy and was accused of spreading false news, to three years in jail, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said.

Human rights activist Hossam Bahgat, who runs the EIPR where Zaki worked, said no appeal is possible against the conviction over an article he wrote about religious freedom.

“He has been arrested now and is being transferred to jail,” Bahgat said.

Zaki, 30, previously spent 22 months in pre-trial detention until December 2021, and was again taken into custody on Tuesday after the court ruling in Mansoura, 130km (80 miles) north of Cairo.

His 2020 article recounted his experiences of discrimination as a member of the country’s Coptic Christian minority, who make up about 10-15 percent of Egypt’s 105 million people.

The drawn-out case has triggered international condemnation, particularly in Italy where Zaki was studying at the University of Bologna. He was arrested in 2020, while returning to visit family, under charges of “spreading false news“, “harming national security” and “incitement to overthrow the state”, among others.

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