Egypt imposes strict anti-terrorism laws

Egyptian state media says President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has signed into law a new anti-terrorism bill which has prompted criticism from some politicians and rights groups.

The new law punishes anyone found guilty of forming or leading a terrorist group with death.

Financing a terrorist group will carry a 25-year life imprisonment sentence.

The laws include death sentences for those involved in establishing terrorist groups, and shield Egypt’s security forces from prosecution for proportionate use of force “in performing their duties”.

Amnesty International’s North Africa acting director Said Boumedouha has saidthe new law would become “yet another tool for the authorities to crush all forms of dissent and steamroll over basic human rights”.

The military was infuriated after media, quoting security officials, reported that dozens of troops had been killed in the Sinai attack.

The regime accuses Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of responsibility for the violence but has so far failed to present solid evidence against the group, despite handing expanded surveillance powers to its intelligence forces. Some expenses, similar to main or organizing a terrorist group, carry the demise penalty.

Hisham Barakat, the state prosecutor who oversaw the mass trials, was killed by a vehicle bomb in June as he drove through Cairo.

In addition, journalists could face fines between 200,000 to 500,000 Egyptian pounds (£16,000 to £41,000) for veering from the government’s official version of any insurgency attack in the country.

After the new constitution and the presidential elections were accomplished, the parliamentary elections represent the third and final phase of the country’s future roadmap declared by Sisi on Morsi’s ouster.

Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian journalist branded as a terrorist by the Egyptian government, said the new laws makes it likely that other reporters will meet the same fate.

“The terrorism problem is not a problem of a lack of legal provisions, but of strategic vision”, said Mohamed Zaree at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. Cairo and other cities have also witnessed attacks.

The new law also gives stronger powers to prosecutors, and orders existing courts to set up special circuits for handling terrorism-related felonies and misdemeanors – a potentially ominous step that echoes the Mubarak-era State Security Court system.

One article gives the president the authority, pending approval from the non-active parliament, to impose curfews and isolation on areas of the country for up to six months.