Nadeen Shaker
Cairo, Egypt
When I first arrived in Egypt, I thought of the anti-protest law as the meta-struggle between the constitution and legislative or administrative measures. Two and a half months later, I realize that the issues the law pose are much greater.
Here is a quick look at what I think is terribly wrong with the law:
1) It embodies Egypt’s state of exception
The law is complementary and supplementary to a host of other legislation that is used to punish people for protesting. As mentioned in my previous blogs, there are other laws that regulate protest in Egypt. The need to introduce another piece of anti-protest legislation in 2013 reflects how the regime is grabbing all opportunities to stifle opposition and cow transitional justice rights. To make a judgment about the law’s legality , it is enough to look at the circumstances under which it was passed. It was birthed out of an executive which was transitorily given extraordinary powers, and it empowered administrative branches such as the police to regulate all forms of protest, event to the extent of canceling ones they deem a threat to public safety. From then on, the law became the state’s pet, used (or rather, misused) to put thousands behind bars. Sometimes, protest is added as a charge to a long list of trumped-up charges.
2) It targets anyone and everyone
This summer, I’ve been following the trial of 17 people, mostly members of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, who were accused of illegally organizing a march to lay flowers in Tahrir square on 24 January. The irony is that as they went to testify before the public prosecutor as witnesses in the manslaughter case of 32-year-old protestor Shaimaa Sabbagh, who was killed by a blast of birdshot from police while marching at their side and who finally died in the enveloping arms of her husband, the public prosecutor brought a case against them for illegally protesting. During the first trial’s three short hearings, lawyers filed motions challenging the constitutionality of the law, which was being looked into by the High Administrative Court.
They were granted an acquittal, but the prosecution appealed the decision, and thus the trial dragged further. Though a final verdict will be decided in September, lawyers in court continuously argue that protest is a constitutional right.
3) The law is rapidly increasing the rate of incarceration
According to my own research, the number of prisoners has increased 7.5 times, or 755 in 2014 from the the previous year.