Egypt refers Israeli sergeant to court

Egypt's prosecution service has referred Israeli sergeant Andre Pshenichnikov to court, amid accusations of infiltrating Egyptian territories illegally. Judicial sources told Arabstoday that if Pshenichnikov is found guilty, he could be jailed for two to five years. They added that the court would consider evidence submitted by the prosecution, confirming that if the Israeli sergeant has breached security, the court could sentence him to life imprisonment. Toor’s Court of Appeal annulled a judicial decision to release the sergeant  deciding to detain him for 15 days pending investigations. The public prosecution said that the defendant should be imprisoned, because investigations proved that he infiltrated Egyptian territories illegally. Despite Pshenichnikov's lawyer demanding that the court rejects the prosecution's appeal, it was accepted and the court issued a 15-day detention order pending further investigations. The Israeli sergeant was arrested by Egyptian security officials on December 28 as he tried to enter Egypt through Sinai.