(MENAFN) After being arrested last year for posting an internet meme critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an Egyptian female journalist has been sentenced to five years in jail over "cannabis possession."

A Cairo criminal court handed down the lengthy sentence to Asmaa Zidan on Saturday for possessing a "hashish cigarette," local media and activists reported.

Zidan was arrested October and charged of "insulting the president "and "spreading fake photos to harm the country's reputation" after posting an internet meme making fun of Sisi on her personal Facebook page, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

Condemning the court decision rights lawyer Karim Abdelrady said that "Zidan has got five years for the trumped-up political charge of possessing a joint. This is the first time in my life that I have seen a ruling like this for drug possession."

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