CAIRO: The People's Assembly's (PA) legislative committee passed a new draft law filed by the government forbidding demonstrations inside places of worship, Hamdy Hassan, PA member affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood told Daily News Egypt. However, Hassan believes that the new law is "against freedom of expression, adding that the Egyptian government regularly puts restrictions on freedom of expression through any possible means. "The government does not even allow protests inside closed meetings between political parties, Hassan said. The law, according to Hassan, was drafted specifically to disallow "the demonstrations that usually take place after Friday prayers especially inside Al-Azhar mosque. Hafez Abu Saeda, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), echoed Hassan's opinion. He told Daily News Egypt that the new law "certainly limits freedom of expression. "Our stand on this law as a human rights organization is clear as we are against any law or regulation that goes against the public's right to stage a peaceful protest expressing their point of view as long as those protests do not involve assaults on any private or public property or individuals, Abu Saeda said. He added that the government failed to provide "a justification for why it came up with such a law. "For so many years Al-Azhar mosque was the place where many peaceful protests were staged against events that took place both inside and outside Egypt, Abu Saeda explained, adding that this law is aimed at putting a stop to Al-Azhar demonstrations. However Abu Saeda said that this new law will not be the first of its kind, citing another legal provision - Article 14 for year 1910 - that gives the national authorities the power to stop any peaceful protest "before it even starts if the government feels that the demonstration might have a dangerous outcome - and the government is the one that decides what it deems 'dangerous . On the other hand, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, PA member affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) told Daily News Egypt that "places of worship are only meant for prayers and not for protests or demonstrations. Kwaitah does not believe the new law is against freedom of expression which, he says, is granted to all citizens. "Everyone has the right to express their views on any matter but in the right places and through legal means, he said. According to Kwaitah, people have the full right to express their views "anywhere away from places of worship.
