CAIRO: The People's Assembly (PA) gave its initial approval Monday on a draft law that would increase compensation for the families of the Jan. 25 martyrs from LE 30,000 to LE 100,000 each. After agreeing on the draft law in principle, MPs are expected to vote on it during the next session, according to parliament speaker Saad El-Katatny. If approved, it will be the first law issued by this parliament. "The compensation given to the martyrs' families was very low, in comparison to the greatness of their sacrifice," said Saad El-Hosseiny, FJP MP and head of the planning and budget committee which drafted the law. "This is an honor for me and all of you that this law will be the first law issued by the PA in 2012," he added. The MPs said that specific criteria for the martyrs needed to be included in the law to guarantee that the compensation would go to the rightful martyrs' families and not thugs who broke out of prison and exploited the 18-day revolt to commit crimes. "We can't consider those who murdered police officers during the revolution, martyrs … The law needs to specify who is the martyr who deserves LE 100,000 in compensation," said MP for the Egyptian Arab Union Party Seif Rashad. MP representing the Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Azza El-Garf, suggested that the families of martyrs with a criminal record shouldn't receive compensation. Others suggested that those injured during the 18-day revolt be included in the law to receive compensations of LE 50,000. The draft law also didn't specify whether the recipients of the compensation would be limited to the families of those who died during the 2011 18-day revolt or would also include the victims of subsequent clashes between security and protesters. A total of 846 were killed during the 18-day uprising, according to the official fact finding commission. The public prosecution had said 225 of those were killed in public squares not in front of police stations, El-Hosseiny said that the compensation would include all the martyrs' families who registered before Feb. 10, 2012, when the law was first discussed. "These are the families who already received LE 30,000 in compensation," he said. Finance Minister Momtaz El-Saeed, said that the families of 775 martyrs had already received LE 30,000 from the ministry. These families include those who died during the 18-day revolt, Maspero and Mohamed Mahmoud Street in subsequent clashes with security forces, according to El-Saeed. The same families will receive the remaining LE 70,000, El-Saeed and El-Hosseiny said. The crackdown on a mostly Coptic protest outside State-TV building, Maspero, in October left 27 dead. Over 40 protesters were killed in a battle between security forces and protesters that lasted from Nov.19-24 in Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Eleven were killed in clashes last month near the interior ministry. The crackdown on a sit-in outside cabinet that left 19 dead last December wasn't mentioned by the minister. The minister added that the term "granted" in the law should be replaced with "paid," because the compensation is the martyrs' families "natural right" and not a gift to be granted.
