Parliament approves state of emergency for three month

CAIRO - 11 April: Egypt’s parliament approved Tuesday a decision by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to declare a three-month state of emergency, following Palm Sunday attacks on two Egyptian churches that left dozens dead.

Sisi declared the state of emergency across Egypt in a Sunday speech; the decision went into effect Monday night.

Parliament held a session Tuesday to decide on the enforcement of the state of emergency, in place to combat terrorism.

During Tuesday’s session, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said that the emergency law targeted enemies of the state and enemies of the people.

Ismail explained that the state of emergency would expedite the government's ability to face terrorism and asserted that the government has to take exceptional procedures against extremist activities.

The parliament approved a draft of the law amendment and will pass it on to the Council of State.

The draft law includes two main articles, the first allowing authorities to, “arrest anyone based on evidence that he/she committed a crime and . . . carry out an inspection of suspected places where he/she might hide any weapons. The law allows detaining him/her and the seized items for seven days after permission from the Public Prosecution.”

The second article outlines, “State Security Courts are allowed to detain any suspected person for a month [which can be renewed], [upon] the Public Prosecution’s request.”