A Cairo judge has sentenced 43 non-governmental-organization employees, including 16 American citizens, to jail time for allegedly fomenting unrest after the 2011 revolution. The court also ordered the permanent closure and seizure of assets of all groups involved in the case, including several American organizations in Cairo.

Defendants were given one- to five-year prison sentences and fined, though only five of the 43 charged were actually present in court. Only one American, Robert Becker of the National Democratic Institute, stayed behind, “to show solidarity with his Egyptian colleagues,” according to the Washington Post, and he’s been sentenced to two years in jail. Sam LaHood, son of the U.S.’s current transportation secretary, was among those who left Egypt last year when their travel ban was lifted.

In December 2011, Egyptian authorities began investigating both domestic and foreign non-governmental groups, including American organizations such as the federally funded International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. Charges were brought against certain groups in early 2012 for operating without official licenses and illegally receiving approximately $50 million in funds from abroad. The court convicted NGO workers of using these funds to promote protests, conduct illicit polling, monitor elections, and offer training in political activism, which, according to prosecutor Abdullah Yassin, amounted to an “infringement of the sovereignty of the state.”

The court’s actions are being seen as part of the Egyptian government’s increasing hostility toward pro-democracy organizations. New regulations have been drafted by the parliament that would “severely restrict independent groups,” and President Mohamed Morsi intends to impose “significant government controls on the activities and funding of civic groups,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

Though the White House has yet to respond, members of Congress have condemned the verdicts. Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged President Morsi “to reverse course and allow for Egyptian domestic and international NGOs to work toward a democratic and secure Egypt.”