In 2013, 43 American, European, and Egyptian –among other nationalities, NGOs workers were sentenced to jail (from one to five years on various charges) for their pro-democratic activist activity, as their offices were ordered to close. This triggered diplomatic tensions as many of these NGOs were US-based, including the International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House. In April this year, Egypt’s top appeal court overturned the jail sentences of 16 of the workers, but now, an Egyptian court has acquitted 40 of them. Regarding the remaining 3, a judicial source said that there are among those who were sentenced in absentia but did not apply for a retrial.