
File Photo: Al-Fustat Public Garden (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Unauthorised protests and rallies can now be held in Cairo's Al-Fustat Garden without entry tickets, according to a decree by the Cairo governor.
As stipulated by Egypt's recently adopted protest law, protesters must submit a request to the authorities at least three days prior to any planned protests. Protesters who hold demonstrations without clearance subject themselves to heavy fines and jail sentences. However, Article 15 of the protest law also states that “protests in specifically designated venues will be allowed without prior notification. Such spaces will be defined by the governor."
Hence, the Cairo Governorate has officially allocated a space of 20 feddans (84,000 square metres) in the southern section of old Cairo's Al-Fustat Garden for protests and rallies unauthorised by the security body in accordance with the protest law issued in November 2013. The protesters are to be admitted into the garden without entry tickets.
Although issued 7 December, the decree only became effective on 27 January 2014, the date of its appearance in the official State Journal.
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since the protest law was ratified. April 6 Youth Movement founder Ahmed Maher, prominent movement member Mohamed Adel and independent activist Ahmed Douma, have all been sentenced to three years in jail and an LE50,000 fine each, for organising unauthorised protest in downtown Cairo on 30 November 2013.
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