Egypt: 125 people referred to criminal trial for joining Sinai Province militant group

Egypt’s supreme state security prosecution referred 125 Egyptians to criminal trial on Saturday, in a case where they are accused of joining and financing the Sinai Province group, which is affiliated with ISIS.

Over half of those in the case are women, The New Arab’s Arabic language sister publication, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The prosecution charged them with "joining a terrorist group, the Sinai Province, which is affiliated with IS and providing logistical support to the group knowing their purposes and objectives in Egypt".

The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights and the Egyptian Front for Human Rights previously published a report under the title of "endless detention", detailing the violations against the detainees, who they say are subjected to serious human rights violations at the hands of security and judicial authorities.

The rights groups noted that those detained were the victims of enforced disappearance and torture, with the prosecution renewing their detention over the same charges after they are released.

The Sinai Province group is a militant insurgent group that has been linked to a number of deadly attacks over the years, mostly in north Sinai but also in Cairo and other parts of Egypt.

The group, which was initially known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, has been active since 2011, but pledged allegiance to IS in November 2014.

The group has around 1,000-1,500 members and has carried out operations reaching Egypt's Western Desert.