An Egyptian rights group has sued to repeal a presidential order that would effectively reinstate the country’s reviled state of emergency. Although the state of emergency was lifted in May of this year, President Mohamed Morsy issued a presidential order on 22 September that appointed 3,649 judges to seats in State Security Emergency Courts.
GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION
Mubarak and Adly to be retried, justice minister says Former President Hosni Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly will be retried on charges of killing peaceful protesters during the revolution, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky said Thursday. Mekky explained that the retrial is necessary because the previous hearing disregarded incidents that took place in governorates outside of Cairo. [Egypt Independent, EGYNews (Arabic), 10/4/2012]
Egypt’s National Association for Change appoint leftist figure as leader The National Association for Change (NAC) reform movement announced the appointment of prominent activist Ahmed Bahaaeddin Shaaban as its general coordinator in a press statement, Tuesday. Shaaban is one of the founders of the protest movement Kefaya (Enough) and is currently secretary-general of the Egyptian Socialist Party. He replaces Constituent Assembly member and well known activist Abdel-Gelil Mostafa, who previously held the leading post. [Ahram Online, 10/3/2012]
COURTS & CONSTITUTION
First public hearing of Egypt’s draft constitution Thursday The first public hearing of the latest draft sections of Egypt’s constitution will take place 2pm Thursday at the downtown Cairo premises of the Shura Council (upper house of parliament), the Constituent Assembly confirmed via its Facebook page. According to the online statement, the event is public, all Egyptian citizens are free to attend the meeting and express their opinion on the national charter. The invitation was spearheaded by the assembly’s Committee for Suggestions, Discussion and Society Contact, headed by Mohamed El-Beltagi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. [Ahram Online, 10/3/2012]
Morsy appoints emergency court judges An Egyptian rights group has sued to repeal a presidential order that would effectively reinstate the country’s reviled state of emergency. Although the state of emergency was lifted in May of this year, President Mohamed Morsy issued a presidential order on 22 September that appointed 3,649 judges to seats in State Security Emergency Courts. There are around ten court cases still lingering from the last state of emergency (which lasted for 31 years), but the small number does not explain the appointment of thousands of judges. [Daily News Egypt, 10/3/2012]
ECONOMY
Egypt property tax to be implemented in 2013 without amendments: Tax chief Egypt will start levying property tax starting January 2013, four years after the Property Tax Law was issued in 2008, the head of the Tax Authority said Wednesday. The tax was repeatedly postponed in recent years, but it has now become crucial to curbing the budget deficit.Property owners will be required to pay taxes on their holdings from 2013 only and not retroactively from the date the law was issued, Tarek Farrag was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the finance ministry. [Ahram Online, 10/3/2012]
SECURITY & SINAI
Interior minister orders police accused of assaulting rail workers interrogated Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin wants policemen suspected in assaulting Transportation Ministry workers at Cairo rail station Wednesday to be apprehended and interrogated. "The police body will not gloss over any transgressor as it has embarked upon a new era that respects the citizen and protect his freedoms," Gamal Eddin said in a statement released Thursday. [Egypt Independent, 10/4/2012]
SOCIETY & MEDIA
Two Coptic children accused of ‘insulting Islam’ released Two Coptic children arrested for insulting Islam in the Upper Egyptian village of Ezbet Marco were released Thursday afternoon pending investigation, according to an Ahram Online’s reporter in Beni Suef. The attorney general of Beni Suef told Ahram Online that he ordered the release of Nabil Nagy Rizk, 10, and Mina Nady Farag, 9, "due to their young age." However the children have yet to be acquitted. A condition of their release, the attorney general explained, is that the "families signed documents confirming they will bring both kids to the prosecution whenever they are needed for questioning." Investigations are expected to take place on Sunday. [Ahram Online, Shorouk (Arabic), 10/4/2012]
Requests to register groups as ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ declined, says ministry lawyer All requests filed so far to legally register organizations under the name "the Muslim Brotherhood" have been found insufficient, requiring further documents, said Mohamed El-Demerdash, deputy head of the State Council and legal consultant of Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs, to the Middle East News Agency (MENA) Wednesday. Many political figures have been demanding that the Brotherhood legalize its status and register the organisation in order for the state to be able to monitor its funding and activities, like any other group in Egypt. [Ahram Online, Daily News Egypt, 10/3/2012]
Women’s rights groups march to Egypt presidential palace, Thursday A coalition of 33 women’s rights organisations and initiatives are set to march from Merghani Street in Cairo suburb Heliopolis to the presidential palace, 6pm Thursday, to submit a document to President Mohamed Morsi outlining rights they want enshrined in the upcoming constitution. The protesters will then be joined by representatives from three political parties. In related news the National Association for Women rejected calls to keep women from contesting parliamentary seats. [Ahram Online, Shorouk (Arabic), 10/3/2012]
REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
On regional tour, US deputy secretary of state talks potential aid cuts US State Department Deputy for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Jones arrived in Cairo Thursday from Tripoli on a two-day visit. German news agency DPA quoted informed sources as saying that Jones would discuss US aid to Egypt during her visit. Speaking in Tunisia Monday, Jones signalled the possibility of cutting aid to the countries where US embassies were attacked during protests against a film produced in the US that denigrates Islam, according to United Press International news service. [Egypt Independent, 10/4/2012]
Egypt FM warns Syrian crisis worsening Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr warned Thursday against the Syrian conflict spreading after a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory killed five civilians in a Turkish border village on Wednesday, prompting Turkey to fire on targets in Syria. In a press statement, Amr called for the Syrian government to ensure that there is no encroachment on the borders of neighboring countries. [Egypt Independent, 10/4/2012]
Repressive measures associated with the state of emergency that was in force until May of this year were used to detain and convict protesters from clashes such as Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November 2011 (Photo: Laurence Underhill/DNE)
