Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi

The Trump administration's release of $195 million for the Middle Eastern nation's security spending, frozen last year over rights concerns, has left experts stunned and deeply worried.

Aya Hijazi and her Egyptian husband were accused of child abuse, but human rights groups called the charges specious and prosecutors offered no proof. The couple were jailed for nearly three years.

The former president who was ousted in 2013 had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison on other charges. The country's highest religious authority will still review the penalty.