Egypt's Sisi to criminalise insulting two 'revolutions'

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday that he is preparing a law that would criminalise the defamation of the January 25, 2011 revolution which ousted former president Hosni Mubarak, and the June 30, 2013 protests which were followed by the army's ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi three days later.

While Morsi's supporters describe his ouster as a military coup, some of his opponents term it a 'military-backed revolution'.

"Preparations are underway for two presidential decrees to criminalise the defamation of the January 25 and June 30 revolutions, and to amend the code of criminal procedure," Sisi said during a meeting with journalists, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Presidency.

These measures come "within the framework of combating corruption and protecting public funds, and the two decrees will be referred to the cabinet shortly," he added.

Egypt has been witnessing a flurry of criticism against the January 2011 revolution, with many supporters of Mubarak and Sisi describing it as "an international conspiracy that aimed to undermine Egypt," according to local reports.

On Saturday, a criminal court dropped charges against Mubarak, his interior minister and several Interior Ministry officials that they had conspired to kill protesters during the uprising which forced Mubarak out of power in early 2011.

On Tuesday, Egypt's attorney general appealed the verdict citing legal flaws.

The ruling has invited the ire of many Egyptians with some relatives of the slain protesters taking to the streets to protest the autocrat's acquittal.

Mubarak and his interior minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to 25 years in prison in late 2012 for ordering the murder of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising.

The court later, however, ordered a retrial after the former president's lawyers successfully appealed the sentence.

"The court’s decision to dismiss the murder charges against him on a technicality while thousands are jailed for peacefully protesting is a fresh slap in the face of every Egyptian who believed that their revolution would hold the most powerful to account," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East & North Africa director for Human Rights Watch.

According to Whitson, the failed prosecutions against Mubarak and his officials showed the dire need for an independent body to investigate the old regime's wrongdoings, "since Egypt's prosecutors and judges have shown little appetite or ability to hold any official accountable.”

The January 25, 2011 revolution lasted for 18 days and saw demonstrations and sit-ins across various squares, leading to Mubarak's step-down.

"For many, the acquittal of Hosni Mubarak will be seen as the final nail in the coffin for the independence and impartiality of Egypt’s criminal justice system," according to Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East & North Africa.

She said a pattern of "selective justice" since Morsi's ouster in July 2013 resulted in security forces responsible for human rights violations largely escaping prosecution.

"Far from an independent and impartial body able to provide a remedy for abuses, the judicial system has become part of the machinery of repression," she said.