Minister of Justice Ahmed Al-Zind has been fired by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, according to a statement released by the Egyptian cabinet.
Local media reported that former deputy minister Reda Shawkt will be appointed for the position.
The spokesperson of Egyptian Judges’ Club Hamdy Abdel Tawab said to a local TV that the club refuses this dismissal of the minister this way pointing that the club will hold an urgent meeting.
“Al Zind played a great role facing the Muslim brotherhood….. he apologised for his mistake”, Abdel Tawab added.
Al-Zind’s dismissal comes in the wake of the social media backlash calling for his immediate resignation and accusing him of ‘religious contempt’ after he made an inflammatory remark about the prophet.
During an interview with TV anchor Hamdy Rizk, broadcast on the privately-owned channel Sada El-Balad, Al-Zind said “I will imprison anyone who does wrong, even Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) himself” in response to Rizk’s question on imprisoning journalists.
Al-Zind was compared to previous minister of justice Mahfouz Saber, who resigned over comments in which he said that the sons of garbage collectors are unfit to occupy the position of a judge.
