CAIRO — An Egyptian court sentenced leading activist Alaa Abdel Fattah to 15 years in jail on Wednesday, June 11, for violating a protest law and on other charges, his lawyer said, a move that outraged human rights groups.

Abdel Fattah, 33, became a symbol of the 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak through his leading role in the protests and on social media. Twenty-four other people were also sentenced to 15 years in jail on similar charges.

The ruling came three days after former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was inaugurated as president, nearly a year after he toppled the country’s first freely elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since Mursi’s fall, security forces have killed hundreds of Brotherhood supporters. Rights groups say more than 16,000 people have also been arrested.

They have also rounded up secular activists like Abdel Fattah, raising concerns the authorities are turning the clock back to the Mubarak era when any form of dissent was risky.

The protest law passed last year heightened fears about the future of political freedoms in Egypt. The law, which rights groups say is deeply repressive, gives the Interior Ministry the right to ban any meeting of more than 10 people in a public place.

Abdel Fattah was ordered arrested over accusations he called protests against provisions in a new constitution that allow civilians to be tried in military courts.

He had been out of jail on bail, but was detained following the judge’s ruling, according to security sources.