21 July 2020; MEMO: Egypt’s House of Representatives yesterday approved a presidential decree to extend the state of emergency across the country for another three months, effective on 27 July, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.
This is the 13th time parliament has renewed the country-wide state of emergency. It was first declared in April 2017 after terrorist attacks on two churches killed 45 persons and injured scores more. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks which took place on Palm Sunday.
The state of emergency was last extended on 28 April by virtue of a presidential decree that cited “security and health circumstances” amid efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state of emergency allows authorities to carry out additional security measures, including the referral of terrorism suspects to state security courts, the imposition of curfews and strict control over newspapers.
