Dozens of demonstrators marched from Talaat Harb Square to the cabinet building in downtown Cairo on Wednesday night in protest of a proposed “revolution protection law” they say is a return to emergency law.
The protestors were low in number but high in spirit, chanting loudly against President Mohamed Morsy, Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, the Ministry of Interior, and the Constituent Assembly.
“Sleep and rest Mubarak, Morsy is continuing your path,” they chanted. “Why [restore] emergency law? Is Mubarak coming back?”
The supposed law, which was published in several news outlets would allow security forces to detain repeat offenders for as much as 30 days in any location the Minister of Interior deems suitable.
It also allows police to place a suspect under surveillance, or ban the suspect from entering a certain area.
Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mohamed Mahsoub denied that such a law exists.
“They [the government] are testing to see if public opinion is okay with this, so we must respond. This law was published clause by clause in state newspapers for two days now, its definitely real,” said Mohamed Waked, a member of the National Front for Justice and Democracy, the group who organised the march.
The proposed “protection of the revolution” law is extremely similar, in fact almost article-by-article identical, to a draft law called the “protection of society from dangerous individuals” law suggested earlier this year by the Ministry of Interior.
Several of its provisions could be used to stifle dissent, particularly political and labour protests, as activists or workers could be banned from entering certain locations like their place of work or a public square to avoid high numbers at a protest or strike.
It also includes strict provisions which allow the Ministry of Interior to punish workers and labour activists through clauses that forbid “stopping work” and “denying others the right to work” which could negatively impact strikes.
“We must show them that this is unacceptable. This law betrays the fact that this is a government in crisis. There has been political movement against it and it doesn’t know what to do,” said Waked.
He added that police brutality under Morsy is at the same level as it was under former President Hosni Mubarak according to a recently published Nadeem Centre report, and that the last thing Egypt needs is more power to the police.
As for the low numbers, Waked said he was not concerned and that the issue would gain more attention over the next few days.
“This is just like the constitution, at first it was small marches like these and now we are having million man protests about it. This time it is just the front, next time other groups will join us,” he said.
