The Cairo Court of Appeals announced Wednesday that it will look into an appeal by the State Litigation Authority, which represents the Egyptian government, to an earlier court ruling declaring the Palestinian organization Hamas as a “terrorist” organization in a session on March 28. 

POLITICS

Foreign ministry reviews Egypt’s human rights
The ministry of foreign affairs reviewed the state of human rights in Egypt, in an official statement on Tuesday. In February, “Egypt withdrew its reservation to an article in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child that sets the minimum legal age for marriage at 18, aligning its international obligations to conform with changes that have already been made to domestic law,” the statement said. The ministry also stated that in January Egypt amended its Child Law to lower the age when children can be raised by foster parents from two years to three months. This allows for the non-institutional support of orphans and other children in need from infancy. Addressing the rights of women, the statement read that “personnel from the Ministry of Interior participated in awareness-raising seminars organized by the National Council for Women regarding the rights of women and their protection.” Finally, the statement addressed the advancement of human rights in prisons, stating that “396 inmates were granted pardons, and 369 cases of appeals were reviewed, pertaining to the transfer of inmates to other prisons to be closer to their families, and to requests of pardons.” The Prisons Authority has also ensured that inmates receive proper social care as well as vitalizing sporting and cultural activities in prisons, according to the statement. [DNE, 3/10/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Minister says trade union pluralism damaging to freedom of association | Egypt Independent

COURTS

Egypt court sentences three Syrians to death over killing of pro-Assad student
An Egyptian court has sentenced three Syrian nationals to death over the murder of a fellow citizen in Cairo for his alleged support to President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war. The charges stem from August 2013 when a Syrian student was killed in an eastern Cairo apartment by three of his fellow countryman to avenge his alleged killing of six of Assad’s opponents before fleeing to Cairo. The sentences were ratified by the Egypt’s Grand Mufti who according to Egyptian law should review all death sentences. The ruling can still be appealed before the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest judicial authority. [Ahram Online, 3/10/2015]

Egyptian government challenges Hamas terrorist ruling
The Cairo Court of Appeals announced Wednesday that it will look into an appeal by the State Litigation Authority, which represents the Egyptian government, to an earlier court ruling declaring the Palestinian organization Hamas as a “terrorist” organization in a session on March 28. In late February, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruled Hamas a terrorist organization, a month after the group’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, was also designated a terror group by the same court. Hamas welcomed the decision of the Egyptian government to appeal against the ruling. “This decision proves that the verdict in February was a huge mistake,” an official Hamas spokesperson said on Wednesday. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, 3/11/2015]

Teacher referred to criminal court after student’s death
Prosecutors referred a teacher to criminal court on Wednesday, after he was investigated for accusations of beating a pupil leading to the child’s death. The charges the teacher faces are beating in a manner which led to death, use of “cruelty” and the possession of a weapon, a stick. The elementary school student passed away on Sunday after days of battling injuries sustained in a beating inside his school in Cairo’s Sayeda Zainab neighborhood. [Aswat Masriya, 3/11/2015]

Court sentences four to prison for notorious dog killing incident
Four Egyptian men were sentenced to three years in prison with labor for torturing and slaughtering a dog, among other charges related to the incident which was caught on camera and stirred widespread outrage. Apart from killing the dog, defendants were found guilty of possessing bladed weapons and terrorizing the public. Three men, aged 28, 29 and 32 – two of whom are butchers by trade – were present in court for the verdict. The fourth defendant, who was the owner of the dog, was sentenced in absentia. The ruling can be appealed. [Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, 3/11/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Belly dancer Safinaz to face trial over Egyptian flag costume | Ahram Online
  • Court to issue verdict for sixty-eight protesters on March 31 | DNE
  • Court adjourns Esraa Abdel Fattah appeal against travel ban | Egypt Independent
  • Sharqeya court sentences eight to life in prison, fourteen to ten years on charges of violence | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
  • Retrial of four in Kerdasa massacre case postponed to March 30 | EGYNews (Arabic)
  • Rights group says forty-nine students arrested, fourteen others referred to military trial in past month| Shorouk (Arabic)

ECONOMY

Egypt to introduce tax reforms under investment drive
According to Egypt’s investment minister, the Egyptian government plans to approve on Wednesday a lower tax ceiling for companies and individuals in high income brackets in order to attract investors and boost the economy. Under the planned tax reform, the ceiling on companies and individuals earning more than one million Egyptian pounds ($131,148) a year will be reduced from 25 percent to 22.5 percent for a period of ten years. The minister further said that a temporary 5 percent tax on wealthy individuals earning over one million Egyptian pounds ($131,061) a year will be canceled as part of the new tax regime.  [Reuters, 3/10/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Five challenges facing the economic conference in Sharm al-Sheikh: Ziad Bahaa-Eldin | Ahram Online
  • Egypt’s Eastern Co first company to seek land in Suez Canal project | Ahram Online
  • Egypt conference to tell world Egypt is ready for investment | AP
  • Telecom Egypt to spend more this year, mainly on fiber network | Reuters
  • Metro authority signs contract with Spanish consulting firm | Egypt Independent
  • Ahead of Egypt investment conference, cautious optimism For economic reforms | Forbes
  • Siemens to supply turbines for Egyptian power plant | Reuters
  • Ethiopian Prime Minister to attend economic conference | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Egypt hit by new fuel shortage, authorities promise solution
Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail said on Tuesday that his ministry would inject large amounts of petroleum products into the market to tackle a reported diesel and gasoline shortage of several days that has caused long queues outside filling stations. “An emergency group is working to solve the problem by providing more fuel and following up with major gas stations to ensure fuel is available.” The petroleum ministry announced it would be providing the market with 40,000 tonnes of diesel on a daily basis as well as 18,000 tonnes of different petroleum products. Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab blamed “black market mobs” for worsening the shortage of butane cylinders. Adding that the government is working on “organizing the selling of the cylinders” to guarantee fair destruction. [Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, 3/10/2015]

Also of Interest

SECURITY

Army officer killed Wednesday in North Sinai assault; ABM claims Tuesday attacks
An army officer was killed on Wednesday in a shootout in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, security sources said. The twenty-six year-old officer, Capt. Ayman Hassan, was shot dead in a firefight between Islamist militants and security forces during an assault on a security checkpoint in al-Baraham near the border town of Rafah. Meanwhile, the Islamic State affiliate in Egypt — previously known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) — claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks that killed two and wounded dozens in restive Sinai. Nine alleged members of ABM were also killed on Tuesday following clashes with security forces in North Sinai, military sources said. [Ahram Online, DNE, AP, Aswat Masriya, 3/11/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Small bomb explodes, two dismantled outside court in Heliopolis Tuesday; no injuries | Ahram Online
  • Two attacks on electrical units leave parts of 10th of Ramadan city in the dark | Ahram Online, DNE
  • Seven masked men set police checkpoint ablaze in Menoufiya | DNE
  • Bomb defused near school in al-Arish | EGYNews (Arabic)
  • Parliamentary elections observatory says 115 violence incidents since ruling against parliamentary law | EGYNews (Arabic)

INTERNATIONAL

Nearly 10,500 Egyptians return from Libya by air, over 29,000 by land  
The total number of Egyptians who have returned from Libya in flights reached 10,452 on Wednesday, a source at the Aviation Ministry said. In remarks made to the press, the source said the forty-fourth flight in the airlift set up to evacuate Egyptians landed in Cairo on Wednesday morning. As of Friday, however, more than 29,000 Egyptians had returned to Egypt through the Salloum border crossing on the Libyan-Egyptians border. [Aswat Masriya, 3/11/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Germany’s arms exports to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE raise harrowing questions | DNE
  • Abu Dhabi Crown Prince in Cairo to meet with Sisi | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
  • Egypt’s interior minister, Bahraini counterpart discuss counterterrorism | Shorouk (Arabic)
  • Azhar Grand Imam discusses religious extremism with US Ambassador | EGYNews (Arabic)