Mohamed Badie, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, is refusing to comment on the extension of the Emergency Law approved by the parliament on Tuesday. The Emergency Law, which has been in force for almost 30 years, has regularly been used to target the Brotherhood. Badie was attending the funeral a Brotherhood leader's wife on Tuesday in Monufiya, when he was asked about the government's decision. He said he couldn't comment because he had to attend another funeral in Mahalla in Gharbiya Governorate. Gamal Heshmat, another Muslim Brotherhood leader, said that the decision was expected. He added that the current ruling regime can not proceed without this law giving it broad powers of arrest. Heshmat deemed the amendments made to the law, which limited its enforcement to drugs and terrorism-related cases, as bogus, noting that the Emergency Law has been in force for 29 years and yet drugs and terrorism have not been eliminated. He said this proves the regime's desire to use it to control freedom of thought. The law also enables the executive authority to exercise control over the judiciary, he asserted. Ali Abdel Fattah, another senior leader in the group, said he believed that the approval of the law by the parliament sets up a barrier between democratic demands and the Egyptian public. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
