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CAIRO. — Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has said his office is drafting a law to criminalise insulting uprisings that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and his Islamist successor Mohammed Morsi last year.
The move intends to ease concerns on both sides of a widening rift over whether the two popular movements expressed the genuine will of Egyptians.
The dispute was further stoked by a judge’s dismissal last weekend of a murder case against Mubarak over the killing of protesters. Just what would constitute an insult, however, was unclear, as was the time frame for the legislation’s implementation.
Such a law, however, would infringe on the freedom of expression guaranteed by the nation’s new constitution.
It follows an intense, year-long media campaign to denigrate the 2011 uprising and paint those behind it as foreign agents.
Many of those who participated in the 2011 uprising also supported massive street demonstrations in June 2013 accusing Morsi of monopolising power and demanding his resignation, but were later targeted by a crackdown that saw many of their leaders jailed.
News of the draft law broke late on Tuesday when the presidential palace released comments by el-Sisi to a group of media workers. El-Sisi, who led the military ouster of Morsi in July 2013, wields legislative authority since Egypt’s last elected parliament was dissolved by a 2012 court ruling. Elections for a new legislature are due next year.
Another law being drafted, according to el-Sisi, would remove the statute of limitations on graft crimes.
That appeared to be in response to a weekend court ruling acquitting Mubarak, his two sons and a businessman of corruption charges. — AP.
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