'Anti-terrorism' draft law to be presented to Egypt's cabinet tomorrow

Tuesday 30-06-2015 08:44 PM
'Anti-terrorism' draft law to be presented to Egypt's cabinet tomorrow

A view shows burnt cars at the site of a car bomb attacked the convoy of Egyptian public prosecutor Hisham Barakat near his house at Heliopolis district in Cairo, June 29, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

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CAIRO, Jun 30 (Aswat Masriya) - A draft "anti-terrorism" law is due to be handed to Egypt's cabinet on Wednesday during its weekly meeting, Egypt's transitional justice minister said on Tuesday.  

This comes shortly after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the hand of "prompt justice" is "tied" with laws, but "we will work on amending the law to achieve justice." The president made the statements at the funeral of assassinated prosecutor general Hisham Barakat on Tuesday morning.  

The committee tasked with making the legal amendments has reviewed and amended the draft law to present it to the cabinet, said Minister of Transitional Justice and the House of Representatives Ibrahim al-Heneidi, who heads the committee. 

The committee's amendments include speeding up procedures related to "terror" crimes, inside courts designated for these crimes, the minister said. 

Other amendments included expanding the authorities of law enforcement officers and prosecutors handling "terror" crimes.

Heneidi added that the amendments to the "anti-terrorism" draft law also include facilitating access to bank accounts, in "terror" crimes. 

He stressed that this is not a new law and has been at the State Council for over four years. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Minister Ahmed el-Zend suggested a legal amendment during a meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahiim Mehleb. The amendment, which will also be presented to the cabinet's weekly meeting aims to shrink the litigation period. 

A military funeral was held for Egypt's slain top prosecutor. Barakat eventually succumbed to wounds sustained when his motorcade was bombed on Monday, while he was on his way to work.  

Local and global condemnations quickly poured in, from the White House, France and the United Nations, among others.  

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