CAIRO – Egypt on Sunday enacted stringent new restrictions on public demonstrations that free-speech advocates said will suppress protests against the current military-imposed government.
Interim President Adly Mansour imposed the 25-article law by decree, acting under powers he was given when the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi in July after three days of protests in which millions had flooded the streets to demand Morsi's resignation. Earlier, public protest also led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
The new law seems designed to make sure that doesn't happen again. It requires that groups apply to the police for permission to demonstrate two weeks in advance. An application must spell out what the demonstration is protesting, where it will be held, how long it will last and what goal the demonstration's organizers are hoping to achieve. Any gathering of more than 10 people without police permission is illegal under the law.
The Interior Ministry and police can cancel or move a protest, and while the law says only appropriate force can be used to break up an illegal protest, it says the security forces have the right to defend themselves. But what constitutes self-defense is not defined, and recent history suggests that forces will interpret that broadly. On Aug. 14, security forces attacked sit-ins in support of Morsi, killing about 1,100 people.
The law also allows provincial governors to establish protest-free zones around government buildings. Violators face as much as 10 years in prison and fines of up to $43,000.
The interim government is also considering anti-graffiti laws and a new anti-terrorism law.
Human Rights Watch called the law "an important indicator of the extent to which the new government is going to allow for political space in Egypt."
MCT
