The House of Representatives is expected to discuss changes to the 2013 protest law within the next few weeks. On 17 January the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee approved government-drafted changes to the protest law (law no.107/2013) following a Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) verdict on 3 December requiring the Interior Ministry to seek a judicial order before banning any street protests. Bahaeddin Abu Shoka, head of the committee and secretary-general of the Wafd Party, told journalists on Monday that the committee's report on the government-drafted amendments will be discussed in plenary sessions within two weeks. “Other amendments proposed by MPs will also be discussed,” said Abu Shoka. According to Abu Shoka “the new draft law – which is to be presented to the House for a vote within two weeks – changes Article 10 of the protest law so that conforms to the SCC's 3 December ruling”. “The amended article states that the interior minister and the concerned security director must first submit a request to a court to cancel a protest or transfer it to another area if it poses a security threat,” said Abu Shoka. “The article also gives the organisers of protests the right to know the judge's reasoning for approving the ban, and they will have the right to file an appeal against the decision.” Abu Shoka argued that the amended article, which gained the approval of most of the committee's 32 members, is in line with SCC's ruling. The SCC decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by leading rights lawyer Khaled Ali in which he petitioned for articles 8 and 10 of the protest law to be annulled on the grounds that they violated public freedoms guaranteed by the 2014 Constitution. “The fact that the SCC ordered that only Article 10 be amended to compel the interior minister to seek judicial permission before banning a protest shows that the protest law in general is in line with the constitution and that it does not need to be completely changed as some political activists demand,” said Abu Shoka. Abu Shoka did, however, concede that some members of the committee rejected the amendment, arguing that it gave the judiciary needless powers. Committee member Tarek Al-Khouli argues that in order for the amendment to be in line with the constitution a judicial order is necessary before the Interior Ministry bans a protest but that the ministry should retain the right to move the venue of any protest without seeking a prior judicial order as long as it gives the organisers 48 hours notice. While Abu Shoka insists “the final discussion of the amendment in a plenary session will settle which amendment is in line with the constitution and with the SCC's ruling” he does not expect it will be difficult for the interior minister to obtain judicial approval to ban protests. Two weeks ago Interior Minister Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar was able to secure an order from the Court of Urgent Matters preventing a demonstration set to take place in front of the cabinet buildings in Cairo to protest parliament's decision to discuss the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal. The Court ordered the protest be moved to Fustat Park. Abu Shoka says the SCC ruling and parliamentary approval of the amended protest law could open the door to the release of young activists imprisoned for violating the law. “I hope that the amended protest law and the president exercising his pardon rights will help many young protesters leave prison,” said Abu Shoka. Alaa Abed, head of parliament's Human Rights Committee, told reporters this week that the committee has asked President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to pardon three lists of prisoners deatined for violating the protest law and for other political reasons. The Human Rights Committee, which is tasked with recommending prisoners for presidential pardon, submitted three lists on 19 January for review. Abed told reporters the three lists are of young prisoners who have received final judicial verdicts, detainees younger than 18, and prisoners recommended for pardon by parliament's Human Rights Committee. In late 2016 Al-Sisi pardoned 100 prisoners, including dozens who were convicted of violating the 2013 protest law. Abu Shoka believes all those arrested for protesting against the Egyptian-Saudi deal should be released. “This is necessary, especially after the Higher Administrative Court ruled on 16 January that the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir should remain in Egyptian hands,” said Abu Shoka, On 18 January – a day after the Higher Administrative Court's ruling – a Cairo appeals court ordered that 12 protesters arrested over illegally demonstrating in front of Cairo's Journalists' Syndicate against the Cabinet's referral of the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal to parliament be released. The court set LE20,000 bail for each defendant. The defence, however, filed an appeal demanding the defendants be released without bail. The protesters were arrested on 2 January after assembling at the steps of the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo.
