20110815
Reuters
(Reuters) - Egypt's military prosecutors on Sunday ordered a prominent woman activist to be tried before a military court on charges of insulting the country's military rulers and incitement to violence, her lawyer said.

The case could inflame Egyptians who staged weeks of protests in July to push for faster political reforms and for justice for those killed by security forces during the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Lawyer Ali Atef said military prosecutors questioned Asmaa Mahfouz of the April 6 Movement, one of the groups that led the protests that forced Mubarak to step down, and freed her on 20,000 pounds bail over three charges that included calling military rulers a "council of dogs".

The prosecutors also accused Mahfouz of inciting violence by writing on her Twitter account that assassinations and armed groups could arise if the judiciary failed to deliver justice in the cases of the ousted Egyptian president and his aides.

Mubarak made his first court appearance on August 3 on charges of involvement in the killing of demonstrators in January.

The lawyer said the prosecutors ordered Mahfouz to pay the fine or face 15 days in jail pending the setting of a date for her trial.

If convicted, she could face up to three years in jail.

Witnesses said dozens of activists demonstrated outside the military prosecutor's office after Mahfouz's questioning, chanting "down, down with the rule of the military".