[An Nahar] Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour approved a controversial law Sunday that regulates demonstrations and gives authorities the power to ban protests deemed a "threat" to national security, officials said.The law also says protesters can be tossed in the calaboose
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for up to five years if found guilty of offenses ranging from covering their faces to carrying weapons while participating in demonstrations, presidency front man Ehab Badawi told news hounds.
Egypt's military justified its July 3 overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the
One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
by saying it was responding to massive protests against his turbulent year-long rule.
But Egyptian rights groups said during the drafting of the bill that it would "criminalize all forms of peaceful assembly" and give authorities a "free hand" to forcibly disperse demonstrators.
Interim prime minister Hazem Beblawi, of the military-installed government, defended the measure in an interview with Agence La Belle France Presse, saying: "It is not a law that limits the right to demonstrate, but it aims at protecting the right of protesters."
Presidency front man Badawi said protesters must give "three day written notice" to a cop shoppe near to where the demonstration is to be held.
He said it also bans demonstrations "at places of worship" or starting from such places.
The advance notice would need to include details about the organizers of the demonstration, its purpose and what slogans will be chanted, he added.
Badawi said the authorities have the right to prohibit a demonstration "if it is felt to be a threat to national security."
But he said security forces must first verbally warn protesters at prohibited demonstrations to disperse before using water cannon or tear gas, and should only gradually escalate to the firing of birdshot if other means fail.
Rights groups had strongly criticized earlier drafts of the law.
"The draft law seeks to criminalize all forms of peaceful assembly, including demonstrations and public meetings, and gives the state (a) free hand to disperse peaceful gatherings by use of force," a group of 19 Egyptian rights groups said in a joint statement on Sunday before the law was given the green light.
Egypt's new military-installed authorities are engaged in a sweeping crackdown on Islamist supporters of Morsi, who regularly stage protests demanding the reinstatement of the country's first freely elected leader.