The Administrative Court upheld Tuesday the implementation of an earlier verdict annulling the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border agreement, known as the “Red Sea islands” case, according to lawyer Khaled Ali.
The decision came as the court rejected a request by the state to halt the implementation of the verdict issued on 21 June, on the grounds that it submitted an appeal against the verdict.
However, Ali, the state’s legal opponent in the case, reported that the court did not just reject the request, but also fined the government EGP 800.
The case is disputed between the government, which concluded the demarcation deal on 8 April, and opponents who argued that the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir were Egyptian lands, refusing to cede their sovereignty to Saudi Arabia.
Lawyer Malek Adly, who had joined the lawsuit against the state agreement and was imprisoned for publicly stating his opinion and participating in protests that erupted in April against the deal, told Daily News Egypt Tuesday that the court is convinced that the government and the president cannot violate the Constitution under any circumstances.
According to Article 151 of the Constitution, relinquishing authority over territory is a violation, even if it was ratified by the parliament and passed by public referendum.
Adly suggested that Tuesday’s decision could be an introduction to a similar stance when ruling in the actual state appeal, scheduled on 5 December.
