Detained activist’s wife starts sit-in at presidential palace

Detained activist Ahmed Douma's wife Nourhan Hefzy started a sit-in at the presidential palace in Ettehadiya on Tuesday, along with seven other women, to demand the lifting of the Protest Law, under which her husband was sentenced to three years in prison along with April 6 Youth Movement founding members Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel.

The sit-in is part of a campaign that activists announced earlier this month, demanding the abolition of the controversial law, which enforces extreme limitations on the right to assemble.

According to activists, more than 1000 people have been detained under this law since it was put into effect last November.

Hefzy called for a female only sit-in to last until Thursday in preparation for a march to the presidential palace that is scheduled to take place on April 26. The campaign will present demands to interim president Adly Mansour, who currently holds legislative power.

The campaign has organized press conferences, marches and human chains throughout the last two weeks, all demanding the abolition of the law.

Security officers approached the women at the sit-in asking them to leave.

“They told me we can't stage a sit-in because it's illegal, but I told them that I'm here to protest this law,” Hefzy said.

Central Security forces remained at a distance from the small sit-in, while a number of officers in civilian clothes that outnumbered protesters remained in close proximity.

Among those joining the sit-in was activist and professor Laila Soueif.

Douma appeared in court on Tuesday for a session in another case in which he is accused, along with 269 others, of illegal assembly, assaulting police officers, vandalism and other charges in relation to clashes that broke out near the Cabinet building in December 2011.