An Egyptian court on Thursday cleared 40 NGO workers, including at least 15 Americans, from charges in a retrial of a case that caused some tension between Egypt and the US.

In 2013 43 workers had been sentenced to jail terms from one to five years, accused of operating NGOs without proper approval. Egypt’s top appeals court ordered a retrial in April.

Since 2011, NGOs have been vulnerable to the Egyptian authorities, as they raided 17 pro-democracy and rights groups accused of joining a foreign conspiracy against Egypt, including US-based groups
linked to the two main political parties in the US, which caused some tension between the countries.

Now, Judge Mohamed Ali al-Fiki has acquitted 40 defendants of all charges at a re-trial, including at least 15 Americans who left Egypt and had received their sentences in absentia. There are three defendants left among who were sentenced in absentia and were not cleared on Thursday as they had not applied for a retrial.

Last month Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi ordered the revision of a controversial law, which rights advocates have held responsible for hurdling the work of NGOs.