On Saturday an Egyptian court began reviewing a lawsuit that calls for lifting Emergency Law. Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that at the end of the session the court postponed the review until 16 October.
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) recently decided that Emergency Law should stay in force until June 2012. It also decided to expand the scope of the law to include the publication of false information, road blocking and incidents of thuggery.
Many lawmakers believe Egypt's penal code is sufficient to address such crimes and accuse the SCAF of following in the footsteps of the former regime by suppressing the media and freedom of speech.
After the court session ended, several rights activists organized a silent protest on the staircase inside the State Council building. They raised banners to call for the abolition of Emergency Law.
Hamed Seddeeq, a researcher at the National Research Center, filed the lawsuit to call for the abolition of Emergency Law, "from which Egyptians have suffered over the past three decades."
He said that since the parliament that approved Emergency Law has been dissolved, the law itself should be revoked, particularly since this was one of the most important demands of the 25 January revolution.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
