Eight political parties representing the Democratic Current have demanded the Supreme Constitutional Court to hasten with deciding on the constitutionality of the law regulating the right to protest.
In a statement on Friday, the parties said they had embarked on a signature-collecting campaign among political groups and public figures in rejection of the law which they labelled “unconstitutional”.
The parties said the 2013 legislation, issued at the peak of protests denouncing the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, had induced "political and social tensions", and was behind "tens of lawsuits brought against hundreds of youths who tried to express their opinion peaceful under the pretext of breaking that legislation".
The statement said the law infringes upon constitutional provisions which protect the right to protest without the prior security permission required by the controversial law.
Arrests and prison sentences issued for breaking the protest law did not stop with Morsi loyalists, but extended to Morsi’s liberal opponents who voiced criticisms of the current military-backed government.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
