Ahmed Maher ( ar, أحمد ماهر ; born 2 December 1980 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Egypt) is one of the co-founders of the

April 6 Youth Movement The April 6 Youth Movement ( ar, حركة شباب 6 أبريل) is an Egyptian activist group established in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on 6 April. Activists calle ...

, and a prominent participant in the

Egyptian revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

demonstrations in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

in 2011. He is a civil engineer who works for a construction firm in

New Cairo New Cairo ( ar, القاهرة الجديدة ' is an Egyptian city covering an area of about on the southeastern edge of Cairo Governorate, 25 kilometres (15 mi) from Maadi. New Cairo is one of the new cities which have been built in ...

. Along with

Asmaa Mahfouz Asmaa Mahfouz ( arz, أسماء محفوظ, , born 1 February 1985) is an Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. She has been credited by journalist Mona Eltahawy and others with helping to spark a mass uprising ...

, he founded the April 6 Youth Movement in Spring 2008. Maher attempted to organize several demonstrations after April 2008. However, his efforts were hindered both by interference from Egyptian security forces and internal divisions within the April 6 movement. In June 2010, Maher helped organize a protest against the killing, by Egyptian police, of Khaled Said, a young resident of

. Maher has expressed support for the potential bid of

Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei ( ar, محمد مصطفى البرادعي, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá al-Barādaʿī, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July ...

for the Egyptian presidency. He appeared in the 2011 BAFTA award-winning film, ''

How to Start a Revolution ''How to Start a Revolution'' is a BAFTA Scotland Award-winning British documentary film about Nobel Peace Prize nominee and political theorist Gene Sharp, described as the world's foremost scholar on nonviolent revolution. The 2011 film descri ...

''. Maher was detained on 29 November 2013 for holding a demonstration against a new Egyptian protest law. On 22 December 2013, together with other opposition leaders

Ahmed Douma Ahmed Douma ( ar, أحمد دومة ; born 11 September 1988 ) is a prominent Egyptian activist and blogger, who has famously been arrested under each consecutive Egyptian government in recent years. He is a member of the Egyptian Popular ...

and Mohammed Adel, Maher was sentenced to three years in prison as a punishment for protests against recent steps by the Egyptian military government. Maher was expected to appeal to further judgment. The international community, including the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

and the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qua ...

, criticized the court’s decision in the context of human rights in Egypt. In March 2014 Maher's lawyer complained that Maher, Douma and Adel were beaten by courthouse guards before an appeal hearing.

Hamdeen Sabahi Hamdeen Sabahi ( ar, حمدين صباحى, Ḥamdīn Ṣabāḥī, ; born 5 July 1954) is an Egyptian politician, journalist and poet. He is currently the leader of the Egyptian Popular Current and a co-leader of the National Salvation Front. ...

has censured the court conviction sentencing Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and

to three years in prison and a fine of LE50,000 and maintains that Interim President

Adly Mansour Adly Mahmoud Mansour ( ar, عدلى محمود منصور ; born 23 December 1945) is an Egyptian judge and politician who served as the president (or chief justice) of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt. He also served as interim ...

should issue these and other detained individuals a pardon. The Constitution Party has expressed solidarity with the detainees and their families and requested that the interim President Adly Mansour issue a pardon to Ahmed Maher, Mohammed Adel, and Ahmed Douma, as well as to Loay Abdel Rahman, Omar Hussein, Islam Ahmed, and Nasser Ibrahim. In 2014 he wrote an article for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

' titled "The U.S. is supporting oppression in Egypt". On 4 January 2017, he was freed that evening after completing his 3 years jail term. His lawyers state that provisory freedom was given their client and that he could be confined at the police station overnight at the discretion of authorities.Al Jazeera and news agencies. (5 January 2017). "Egypt frees 2011 uprising activist Ahmed Maher
Al Jazeera website
Retrieved January 14, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Ahmed Living people Egyptian dissidents People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Egyptian engineers Egyptian democracy activists 1980 births Members of the Egyptian Constituent Assembly of 2012