The verdict follows prolonged legal proceedings, after Egypt’s top appeals court in April ordered a retrial following appeals filed by 16 defendants The defendants including Americans, Europeans, Egyptians and other Arabs were handed prison sentences of between one and five years in 2013 CAIRO: A court on Thursday acquitted 43 NGO staff accused of receiving illicit foreign funds to stir unrest in the wake of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, a judicial source said. The verdict follows prolonged legal proceedings, after Egypt’s top appeals court in April ordered a retrial following appeals filed by 16 defendants. The defendants including Americans, Europeans, Egyptians and other Arabs were handed prison sentences of between one and five years in 2013. The case stirred heavy criticism of Egypt and raised concerns over restrictions on civil society. Many of the defendants were tried in absentia and the accused were sentenced but not jailed. Since 2011, authorities have regularly accused civil society organizations of seeking to destabilize the country. Egypt stepped up its crackdown on non-governmental organizations after the military ousted Islamist president Muhammad Mursi in 2013. Mursi’s overthrow was led by general-turned-president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who took office in 2014. Rights groups have accused El-Sisi’s government of human rights violations and over the repression of dissidents.