Gas company workers raise case against Protest Law

The Damanhour Misdemeanour Court referred a case against the Protest Law to the Supreme Constitutional Court after being challenged by workers from the Beheira Gas Company, who were accused of protesting without obtaining permission, privately owned Al-Shorouk daily newspaper reported.

Last December, a number of workers at the Beheira Gas Company held a protest against the company’s attempts to fire them or hire them through intermediary companies, in what they claim is an abuse of their rights.

The company suspended the protesting workers and five of them were accused of organizing a protest without obtaining permission.

The workers denied this was the case, saying they had filed a request for permission but received no response, Al-Shorouk reported, adding that following the protest, the workers were surprised by the legal action taken against them.

The defendants’ defense team is challenging the law by claiming that it is unconstitutional as it limits freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, the Administrative Court postponed an investigation Tuesday into two cases demanding the suspension of the protest law on the basis of constitutional flaws. The court session was postponed to March 4 to gather supporting papers and documents, Al-Shorouk reported.

The plaintiffs are suing the president, the prime minister, and the interior minister. The case is based on “the right to freedom of expression and what evolves from it including the right to assemble and hold peaceful protests, which are constitutionally granted rights that override any laws forbidding them.”

The law, issued November 2013, obliges protest organizers to inform the nearest police station of the place of the protest, its start and finish time and its goals and demands, in addition to the names and contact information of its organizers 24 hours prior to the protest.

The law also prohibits protests from going past the stated end time, as well as the use of fireworks, facemasks or protesting in the vicinity of places of worship.

The interior minister previously asserted that the law does not prohibit peaceful means of expression, but simply regulates them. He said organizing and participating in public gatherings, marches and peaceful protests would still be permitted as long as they abide by the law.

Despite this, many protesters remain in prison on charges related to unsanctioned protests since the new law was implemented.