President Sisi Terminates Egypt’s State of Emergency After 4 Years

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Source: Madote

After four continuous years of extension, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi announced the termination of Egypt’s nationwide state of emergency on Monday 25 October.

Egypt’s emergency law 167, of 1958, was announced in Egypt by a Presidential Decree No. 127/2017 on 10 April 2017 after the bombing of two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria that resulted in 45 citizens dead.

“This decision came in light of Egyptians’ participation in all aspects of development in the last few years,” said President Al Sisi in an official statement through Facebook, “I announce this decision while remembering Egyptian martyrs with pride and appreciation as we would have not reached this state of stability and safety without them.”

The law, extremely controversial amongst activists and human rights advocates, granted police and military forces the right to take necessary measures to combat terrorism and protect national security. In addition, it facilitated the allocation of the state’s resources to fund these missions.

According to Egypt’s 2014 constitution, article 3 of this law allows indefinite detentions without trials and hearings of civilians by military courts; it also restricted public demonstrations and gave the state additional powers to practice censorship.