Wednesday, November 13, 2013

As New Protest Law Looms, Egypt Faces Harsher Authoritarian Order Than the Revolution Overthrew

Democracy Now!

"Egypt has announced the lifting of a three-month state of emergency and night-time curfew, which allowed authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people’s homes. But Egyptian human rights activists have expressed fear that the country’s interim government is on the verge of approving a draconian protest law that will severely restrict the right to organize demonstrations. The emergency law and curfew were imposed during a crackdown on protesters supporting former President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president. Overthrown by the military in July following widespread demonstrations against his rule, Morsi is now on trial for allegedly inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012. But no charges have been brought over the killings of hundreds of Morsi supporters since his ouster. "The Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood have acted as two juggernauts in the Egyptian body politic," says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Cairo-based independent journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent. "They’re both characterized by patriarchy, secrecy and mendacity, and they’ve both ripped apart Egypt’s social fabric as they struggle for power.”....."

No comments: