European Union evoy Catherine Ashton with Mahmound Badr and Mohammed Abdel-Aziz of the Egyptian Tamarod (rebel) organization. The organization supported the military seizure of power., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Youth Revolutionary Block denounces Egypt draft protest law
Ahram Online, Tuesday 15 Oct 2013
The controversial law regarding public protests is currently being reviewed by interim president Adly Mansour
Egypt's Youth Revolutionary Block denounced Tuesday the draft protest law, approved by the cabinet and currently under review by the interim president, stating that it would enable the return of the police state.
The Block said in a statement that the draft protest law ignores a main demand of the 25 January 2011 revolution, which is freedom.
General Coordinator of the Youth Revolutionary Block, Safwat Omran, said that the current regime is continuing the notion of enforcing security by restricting the freedom of citizens, a tactic that was common under Mubarak's rule.
Omran stated that if a group chooses to abandon peaceful protest, they should be dealt with under the law, instead of punishing all Egyptians through a return to the police state.
The draft law was prepared by the justice ministry and contains 21 articles, the most controversial of which are articles 6, 10 and 14.
Article 6 states that a written appeal should be handed to the local police station 24 hours before any scheduled protest. The appeal must include the place of the protest, its purpose, the name of its organisers and how to reach them, as well as the protest demands and proposed start and end time.
Article 10 gives the interior minister or senior police officials the authority to cancel, postpone or change the location of a protest, although, protesters can seek emergency judicial intervention against such decisions.
During Morsi's year in power, neither the interior minister nor senior police officials were able to issue a direct order to cancel a protest. Such a demand had to be issued by the judiciary.
Article 14 states that governors have the power to designate "protest-free" areas of 50 to 100 metres in the vicinity of state and governmental premises, including presidential palaces, head-quarters of legislative authorities and the cabinet.
The draft protest law stipulates a punishment of imprisonment and a fine of between 100 to 300 thousand EGP for those who pay or receive money for participation in protests, and who organise protests without prior disclosure at the local police station.
The April 6 Youth Movement also denounced the draft law in a statement on Monday.
"Time will not go back to the era of rulers issuing laws to silence their opponents," the statement read.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/84042.aspx
Egypt's April 6 (Democratic Front) denounces draft protest law
Ahram Online, Monday 14 Oct 2013
Youth movement says draft law will restrict freedom of assembly and is not supported by serious initiatives to reform police and carry out transitional justice
April 6 Youth Movement (Democratic Front) has rejected a draft protest law currently being reviewed by interim president Adly Mansour.
In a statement on Monday, the prominent protest movement said the draft restricts freedom of assembly and is not supported by "serious" initiatives to reform the police or carry out transitional justice.
Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi delivered the draft to president Adly Mansour on Sunday, in a further step towards ratifying the controversial law.
The law was approved by the interim cabinet earlier this week. Mansour is expected to review the draft before issuing it through a presidential decree.
A number of political forces and rights groups have also criticised the draft.
"Time will not go back to the era of rulers issuing laws to silence their opponents," the April 6 statement said.
Egypt has seen continuous demonstrations since the January 25 uprising in 2011 which toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Supporters of president Mohamed Morsi – ousted following protests against him in July – continue to take to the streets amid an ongoing crackdown by security forces.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/83995.aspx
Salafist leader criticises draft protest law
Wednesday 16 Oct 2013
Nour Party head says national dialogue necessary before adoption of controversial protest law that has also been criticised by revolutionary forces
The leader of Egypt's largest Salafist party has called on interim President Adly Mansour not to issue a controversial protest law without first conducting a national dialogue, or at least discussing it with political forces.
The Nour Party's Younes Makhioun said in a Tuesday statement that it would be better to wait for the next parliament to adopt such a law.
The draft law gives the interior minister or senior police officials the authority to cancel, postpone or change the location of a protest, and allows governors to designate "protest-free" areas near state buildings, including presidential palaces.
The interim authorities should only use their exceptional legislative powers for urgent matters, Makhioun added.
He accused the country’s new authorities of reproducing deposed president Mohamed Morsi’s errors by adopting controversial laws without consultation, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The draft law was prepared by the justice ministry and contains 21 articles, the most controversial of which are articles 6, 10 and 14.
Article 6 states that a written appeal should be handed to the local police station 24 hours before any scheduled protest. The appeal must include its location and purpose, the name of its organisers and how to reach them, as well as its demands and the proposed start and end time.
Article 10 gives the interior minister or senior police officials the authority to cancel, postpone or change the location of a protest, although protesters can seek emergency judicial intervention against such decisions.
During Morsi's year in power, neither the interior minister nor senior police officials were able to issue a direct order to cancel a protest. Such a demand had to be issued by the judiciary.
Article 14 states that governors have the power to designate "protest-free" areas of 50 to 100 metres around state and governmental premises, including presidential palaces, headquarters of legislative authorities and the cabinet.
The draft law stipulates a punishment of imprisonment and a fine of between LE100,000 and LE300,000 for those who pay or receive money for participation in protests, and who organise protests without prior disclosure at the local police station.
Egypt's Youth Revolutionary Block on Tuesday denounced the draft law, which has been approved by the cabinet and is currently under review by the interim president, stating that it would enable the return of the police state.
The April 6 Youth Movement (the Democratic Front) also denounced the draft law, saying in a Monday statement that it refused to "go back to the era of rulers issuing laws to silence their opponents."
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/84089.aspx
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