The Union of Revolutionary Youth on Monday called for a mass rally in Tahrir Square on Friday to voice the rejection of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) decision to expand the scope of the country's Emergency Law to cover the publishing of false information. Egypt's military rulers on Sunday outlined new areas where they could apply long-standing emergency legislation, citing activities such as blocking roads, publishing false information and illegally possessing weapons, state news agency MENA reported. In a statement issued on Monday, the union said that the rally, which will be called "No to the Emergency Law," will reject the military's proposed amendments to the Emergency Law, adding that these amendments indicate an intention to exploit the emergency legislation to quell revolutionaries and suppress freedoms. The rally will also express opposition to how the SCAF is managing the interim period, the statement said, and emphasize the demands of last Friday's "Correcting the Path" rally. The rally will also call for a timetable for the handover of power to a civilian authority. Haitham al-Khateeb, a member of the Union of Revolutionary Youth's executive bureau, said the continuation of the SCAF and the interim government's anti-revolution policies casts doubts on the SCAF's intention to hand power over to a civilian authority. The proposed amendments to the Emergency Law feed the impression that the SCAF is operating in the same way as the former Mubarak regime, potentially bringing a renewed revolution upon itself, he said.
