- October 22, 2011
- 2 minutes read
Egyptian Cabinet Approves Treason Law Amendments
The Egyptian Cabinet has approved the amendments to the Treason Law, which bars anyone found guilty of corrupting political life, as well as former regime figures, from top public service positions, and ends their membership of the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council as well as local councils, in addition to denying them the right to vote or to be nominated to any of the listed councils for a period of five years from the date of sentence.
The Cabinet also decided to bar such persons from holding leadership positions in public office for five years, to deny them membership or affiliation to any political party for the same period, and to bar them from corporate boards, bodies and institutions that are supervised by public authorities for a period of 5 years from the date of sentence.
Counsellor Mohamed Abdel Aziz Ibrahim El-Gendy, Egyptian Minister of Justice, announced in "Al-Ahram" today that the draft decree for amendments to the Treason Law exclusively limits the responsibility of applying said Treason Law to the Public Prosecutor and the Criminal Courts, for the purpose of safeguarding the legal and judicial rights of the accused.
He stressed that the draft law eases the sanctions, so they would run for a period of five years from the date of sentence, whether it be the deprivation of the right to vote or be elected or take leadership positions of public office or to joint any political party, so as to allow the accused to exercise those rights after the expiry of the five years.
The Treason Law is will be applied shortly, following the introduction of a number of substantive amendments to the law, aiming to rid it of any constitutional breeches, and also to ensure equality between the accused perpetrators of crimes of treachery, and others accused of different crimes.