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'Bearded policemen' renew protests in Egypt Tens of policemen demand the right to work while keeping their beards, based on court verdict ignored by interior ministry
Tens of bearded police officers protested at the interior ministry headquarters Sunday demanding to be allowed to resume their work. Police officers in Egypt are not allowed to grow their beards. The protesting officers repeated chants demanding that Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim accepts a court verdict allowing them to resume their duties. "The bearded police officers are neither from the Muslim Brotherhood nor are they Salafists," the officers also chanted. The police officers argued they should not be barred from work for pursuing their religious beliefs. The "bearded policemen" came to light a few months after Islamist political forces, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Partyand the Salafist El-Nour Party, took over 70 per cent of parliamentary seats in legislative elections. According to interior ministry codes of discipline, policemen are forced to shave their beards. The emergence of bearded officers stirred up controversyacross the country.