Lawyers Samir Sabry and Mohamed Salem have legally contested a court decision that allows bearded officers to go back to work after being suspended from the Ministry of Interior.
Sabry presented an appeal to the decision, while Salem filed a new lawsuit in front of the Urgent Matters Court demanding an annulment to the decision. Both lawyers are known for their ultra nationalist sentiments and anti-Islamist stands.
The appeals by the controversial lawyers came after the Sunday Administrative Court’s decision to allow a number of bearded officers to go back to work, after an appeal by a bearded police colonel was accepted.
The colonel contested a decision by former Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim to dismiss bearded officers from their position in the police apparatus.
In his news lawsuit, Salem argued that for the officers to grow beards, it means that they violated the grooming standards and the principles of the police institution. He also argues that the officers are members of the Muslim Brotherhood outlawed group, who publicly propagated their case in 2012 when the Brotherhood was in power.
This is the second time that the Administrative Court has ruled that bearded police officers could return to their posts, rejecting the appeal by the Interior Ministry.
The current regulations and grooming standards at the ministry forbid personnel from growing beards. In February 2017, during the reign of former President Mohamed Morsi, bearded officers received support from Islamist groups like the ultra-conservative Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya’s Building and Development Party, Al-Nour Party, and the Salafi Front, which have called for the Ministry of the Interior to respect the Administrative Court’s decision to allow bearded police officers to return to their posts.
In February 2013, dozens of bearded police officers continued in a sit-in at the Interior Ministry, demanding the ministry to implement the court’s ruling.
