Interior ministry receives notification of protest against Red sea islands deal

Monday 09-01-2017 03:55 PM

Security forces dispersed a protest against Tiran, Sanafir agreement on Monday. Credit: Mohamed El- Raai

CAIRO, Jan 9 (Aswat Masriya) - Rights lawyer Tarek Negeida said on Monday that the interior ministry received a notification of a protest against the referral of Egyptian-Saudi border demarcation agreement to the parliament.

This comes two days after the police officer at Sayeda Zeinab police station refused to receive an official notification of the protest.

In December, the Supreme Constitutional Court deemed Article 10 of the controversial protest law, which gave the interior minister or a relevant security director the authority to prevent demonstrations, unconstitutional.

Negeida added that the organisers decided to postpone the protest previously scheduled for Wednesday to Saturday.

The demonstration is set to take place in front of the cabinet offices in protest of the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea islands deal.

The cabinet referred late December the agreement, which stipulates that the two strategic Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within Saudi territorial waters, to the parliament for ratification despite the uncertainty surrounding it.

The agreement was annulled in June by the administrative court, which affirmed that both islands fall within Egypt's borders. The government appealed against the court's decision.

The fate of the two islands is set to be determined by the Supreme Administrative Court, which will issue the final ruling in the case on Jan. 16.

The law has been widely criticised by domestic and international human rights organisations, which say it violates international standards that allow for peaceful protests.

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