Abdel-Fattah (pictured above) was jailed Wednesday on charges that included violating a protest law, while 24 co-defendants were given similar sentences.

The 33-year-old is known for his leading role in the uprising against former autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, through his presence at protests and on social media. The sentence against him is one of the toughest handed down to the pro-democracy activists behind the 18-day uprising that ended Mubarak's 29-year regime.

The ruling came three days after former army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sissi was sworn in as president, following elections and lop-sided results in his favor, in which the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood refused to participate. Sissi orchestrated the coup to topple Egypt's first democratically-elected president, the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi, last July, following mass protests against Morsi's year-long rule.

Since Morsi's ouster, authorities have launched a crackdown on Islamists, killing hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and arresting thousands of others.

Though these actions have gained the most prominence, there has also been a campaign against secular activists like Abdel-Fattah, who are opposed to what they describe as Egypt's return to Mubarak-era policies.

The protest law passed last year gives the Interior Ministry the right to ban a meeting of more than 10 people in a public place. But secular activists have criticized the law, saying mass protests were what resulted in Morsi's ouster.

Abdel-Fattah, who has been out on bail since March, was convicted and sentenced in absentia, but did turn up at the courtroom later and was arrested. The absentia sentencing means he faces an automatic retrial, though the conviction stands in the meantime.

jr/dr (Reuters, AFP, AP)