An Egyptian court sentenced Israeli citizen Andrei Pshenichnikov to two years in
prison on Monday after he infiltrated into the Sinai Peninsula some two months
ago, local media reported.
Pshenichnikov, 24, from Bat Yam, was
originally ordered to be deported to Israel, but an Egyptian judge overturned
the ruling.
Pshenichnikov’s mother told Army Radio that her son got a
visa to enter Egypt, and was scheduled to meet friends from France in
Cairo.
The man was reportedly a left-wing activist, who lived in the
Palestinian territories and was previously denied a request for Palestinian
citizenship.
He was not carrying a passport when he entered Sinai and his
name was not on tourist arrival lists, according to the official Egyptian MENA
news agency.
Egyptian state television earlier reported the arrested man
was a former army officer named Andre Yacoub and had entered Egypt illegally.