text: Nearly two dozen Islamist women and girls, some as young as 15, were handed heavy prison sentences Wednesday for protesting in a court ruling that came a day after police beat and terrorized prominent female activists in a crackdown on secular demonstrators under a tough new anti-protest law. 
   
   In this Nov. 23, 2012 photo, activist Nazly Hussein pauses during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt. After being detained at a Cairo protest, Hussein was among 14 women, some of Egypt’s... (Associated Press) 
   
   An Egyptian woman holds the national flag during a protest in Talaat Harb Square in Cairo, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. After being detained at a Cairo protest, 14 women, some of Egypt’s most prominent democracy... (Associated Press) 
   
   An Egyptian woman supporter of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stands inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy... (Associated Press) 
   
   Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press) 
   
   Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press) 
   
   Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police detain two female protesters in Cairo, after police water cannons to disperse two protests by dozens of secular anti-government activists,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Protesters chant slogans in Talaat Harb Square in Cairo, Egypt, against the issuance of a new law regulating demonstrations, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. Nearly two dozen women, some as young as 15, are... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police fire water cannons to disperse a protest by secular anti-government activists in Cairo, the security forces' first implementation of a... (Associated Press) 
   
   The harshness of the sentences and the scenes a day earlier were new signs that the military-backed government is becoming bolder in silencing dissent, turning to abuses reminiscent of the Hosni Mubarak era. Authorities have been justifying tougher measures as needed to fight terrorism and bring stability _ while they also appear to be exploiting divisions among secular democracy activists. 
   
   The crackdown is rearranging Egypt's political map after months when authorities were focused on crippling the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist backers of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. 
   
   This week, security forces have moved against secular youth activists opposed to the military and police. Some government supporters warn that its actions are widening the base of the opposition and could bring together Morsi supporters and the secular activists, though they bitterly oppose the Islamists and Morsi as equally authoritarian. The crisis is fragmenting the loose coalition of liberal and secular groups that supported the military in its July 3 removal of Morsi. 
   
   In a Mediterranean city of Alexandria courtroom, the 21 young female defendants flashed defiant smiles to the media, standing handcuffed in white head scarves and white prison uniforms in the defendants cage. They were convicted on charges related to holding an Oct. 31 protest in the city demanding Morsi's reinstatement. 
   
   Among them were seven teenagers aged 15 and 16, who were sentenced to prison terms until they turn 18. The rest _ most aged 18 to 22 _ were sentenced to 11 years in prison. Six other Brotherhood members were sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting the demonstrations. 
   
   "We thought they will get a month or something but we were shocked with the 11 years," defense lawyer al-Shimaa Ibrahim Saad said. 
   
   The Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said the sentences are meant to be a "deterrent" for the group's opposition to the military, vowing the verdict "will only increase the determination of the people to get their rights." 
   
   Meanwhile, hundreds of secular youth activists protested Wednesday in downtown Cairo against the government's clampdown on dissent. At the center of the crisis is the law issued this week banning any protests or public political gatherings of more than 10 people without a prior police permit, imposing stiff fines and jail terms for violators. 
   
   "Those thinking the authoritarian pharaonic style works will find it doesn't anymore," said one protester, Laila Soueif. "There will be a third wave of the revolution much more violent than before. We are witnessing a turning point." 
   
   A day earlier, security forces broke up two small activists' protests in Cairo. Security forces beat and dragged women protesters outside parliament. 
   
   The images were reminiscent of the days of Mubarak, the autocrat who ruled the country for nearly 30 years and was ousted in a 2011 uprising. Under his rule, police at times focused on humiliating female protesters. Similarly, under the rule of the military that followed his ouster, police broke up an anti-military protest, half-stripping a female protester and stomping on her chest. 
   
   After breaking up Tuesday's protest, police detained 14 women, then drove them in a van through the desert where they were dropped off on a remote road in the middle of the night, several of the women said. That too is a tactic used by Mubarak-era police to intimidate protesters. 
   
   "They want to terrorize us," said Mona Seif, a prominent activist who was among the 14 women. "I think the interior minister decided to escalate and tell everyone whose family was killed... beaten or anything that I am here, this is how I do business, and if you don't like it, beat your head against the wall." 
   
   In the face of the criticism, the Cabinet issued a strongly worded statement saying it is determined to implement the new protest law with "all firmness and force ... so freedom doesn't turn to chaos." It linked it to a "war on terrorism" _ pointing to the Brotherhood protests and violence by Islamic militants in Sinai. 
   
   "There are elements that want to spread domestic chaos in a desperate attempt to hurt the prestige of the state," it said. 
   
   The law comes ahead of an election season that will include a referendum on amendments to the Islamist-drafted, Morsi-era constitution. Authorities have shown they are eager to push through the new charter _ but they could face troubles in the January vote on two fronts. 
   
   Secular activists oppose the document because of wider powers it gives the military and the president. The Brotherhood rejects the entire amendment process _ along with the new government in general _ and although it has been weakened by a crackdown, it has kept up protests for over 20 weeks and can still mobilize against the document. 
   
   On Wednesday, the prosecutor general's office ordered 24 people who were arrested in Tuesday's activist protest to be held for four days for questioning on possible charges of violating the protest law. 
   
   In a statement, the prosecutors office accused the protesters of "chanting antagonistic slogans against the state" and refusing to end their rally. It said the demonstration "disturbed traffic and affected citizens' interests," terms mentioned in the protest law as violations justifying police action. It also accused them of attacking a police officer and taking his telephone. 
   
   The prosecutor also ordered the arrests of Alaa Abdel-Fattah and Ahmed Maher, two top activists, on suspicion of inciting others to break the protest law, the state news agency MENA said. 
   
   In a sign of the Islamists' eagerness to find a common cause with secular activists, the Brotherhood-led coalition supporting Morsi reached out to them Wednesday with a statement denouncing "brutal repression" of the protests the day before, saying the "youth of the revolution stand united." 
   
   The spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood-led coalition, Diaa al-Sawi, said he will contact youth activists to coordinate rallies. 
   
   They met a quick rejection, however, from the youth activists, who joined the massive anti-Morsi protests that preceded his ouster. 
   
   "A message to the Muslim Brotherhood: we will not put our hands in the hands of those who betrayed and hijacked the revolution," said Hossam Moanis, spokesman of one activist group, the Popular Current. ||||| Cairo (CNN) -- Police on Monday arrested the head of the defense team for the 21 women and girls sentenced for protesting in Egypt last month, a colleague and member of the defense team told CNN. 
   
   Lawyer Ahmed El-Hamrawy was arrested at his home in Alexandria at dawn Monday, lawyer Mahmoud Farouq told CNN. "I can't separate his arrest from the girls' case," said Farouq, who is part of the team defending the 21 jailed protesters. "This means that any lawyer who comes close to the case will be detained." 
   
   Gen. Nasser El-Abd, the head of the Alexandria Criminal Investigation Department, told Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that El-Hamrawy was arrested with five others for "incitement of violence." 
   
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   On Wednesday, 14 women were sentenced to 11 years in prison, and seven minors to juvenile detention, on charges of gathering, thuggery and weapons possession at a demonstration for ousted President Mohamed Morsy. The harsh sentence sparked wide criticism of the way the Interior Ministry and the judiciary have been handling the cases of Morsy supporters. An appeals hearing for their case is scheduled to take place Saturday. 
   
   "We don't have any doubt that this verdict is a new episode in a series of politicized judicial rulings, which include the sentencing of several Al-Azhar students to 17 years for various misdemeanors based on accusations that are mostly trumped up and generalized," said a joint statement issued by 14 rights groups last week. 
   
   Egyptian lawmakers begin vote on new constitution 
   
   The verdict coincided with an increasing crackdown on non-Islamist activists who oppose the military-led regime and Morsy. Prominent activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, detained during the Mubarak and the military council regimes in 2006 and 2011, is being held pending investigations for his alleged involvement in calling for a demonstration. Ahmed Maher, founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, is also being questioned about similar charges. 
   
   Legislation restricting demonstrations reignited confrontations between police and the non-Islamist opposition, especially at university campuses across the country. A demonstration coinciding with the retrial of two policemen accused of killing Khaled Saied, whose death had fueled the uprising in 2011, was dispersed with force in Alexandria on Monday. 
   
   "El-Hamrawy was part of Morsy's opposition. He demonstrated against him on June 30, but he's been involved in defending freedoms since July 3," when the military removed the Islamist President from power, Farouq told CNN. "He's being punished for that." 
   
   Read: Prison sentences for women as Egypt clamps down on protest
target: – As protests rage on in Egypt, the lawyer at the helm of the defense team representing 21 young female protesters was today arrested at home for "incitement of violence," CNN reports. On Wednesday, 14 of the women—mostly aged 18 to 22, the AP notes—were sentenced to 11 years following their participation in a pro-Mohamed Morsi demonstration. Seven girls, meanwhile, were sentenced to juvenile detention until they turn 18. Charges included illegal gathering, weapons possession, and thuggery; rights groups called the ruling "politicized." "I can't separate his arrest from the girls' case," says another lawyer defending the women, whose appeal is set to be heard Saturday. "This means that any lawyer who comes close to the case will be detained." Though the women were clamoring for Morsi's reinstatement, he added that the lawyer, Ahmed El-Hamrawy, "was part of Morsi's opposition. He demonstrated against him on June 30, but he's been involved in defending freedoms since July 3 ... He's being punished for that." Authorities have long cracked down on Islamists who supported Morsi, but lately, they've been targeting young, secular demonstrators, the AP notes. A new rule bans gatherings of more than 10 people without prior notice.