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No emergency law in Egypt, for now
[Al Ahram] President Mohamed Morsi said that if he has to "impose exceptional measures to restore domestic order" he will do so, emphasising that he "is afraid" he might have to.
A few hours after the president's speech, in which he also accused the media of inciting violence, Media Production City (MPC) in Sixth October City on Sunday was besieged by Islamist protesters who came to condemn what they perceived as anti-Islamist bias in the Egyptian private media. A number of television stars and opposition figures were both verbally and physically attacked at the gates of the media complex. The sit-in in Sixth October gave more reasons for Morsi's opponents to believe that his speech was a green light to his supporters and that his words were not only threats but rather a sign that more "exceptional measures" are about to be imposed. "What we are witnessing now reminds me of what happened in September 1981 under [former president] Sadat", human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... activist Gamal Eid told Ahram Online, comparing Morsi's possible crackdown to the massive police strike that Sadat ordered against the Egyptian opposition and in which more than 1,500 political figures from all parts of the political spectrum were put in prison. "At that time too President Sadat said that he was doing this for the good of the nation but the result was his liquidation, a lesson that Morsi does not seem to have learnt," Eid added. Morsi warned in his speech about those trying to "sabotage" the course of the January 25 revolution and Egypt's democratic transition and cause chaos. He also warned the political opposition against trying to give a political cover to violence. Posted by: Fred 2013-03-27 |
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