Women Activists Stage Sit-In Against Egypt Protest Law

Scores of Egyptian female activists staged a sit-in outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo late Tuesday to call for scrapping an anti-protest law.



Protesters chanted slogans for scrapping the controversial law and called for the release of their prominent activists, who were jailed for violating the law.



In November, the Egyptian government approved a law that requires police permission before staging a demonstration.



Earlier this month, an Egyptian court upheld a three-year jail sentence against activist Ahmed Douma, founder of the April 6 youth group Ahmed Maher and leading group member Mohamed Adel for staging an unlicensed protest.



Douma, Maher and Adel were among the young activists who spearheaded Egypt's January 2011 revolution, which ended autocratic president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.



The three men had also supported last year's June 30 demonstrations, which paved the way for the July 3 ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president Mohamed Morsi.



By Nagwa Mustafa



englishnews@aa.com.tr - Kahire