Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a decree that allows him to repatriate foreigners accused or convicted of a crime, based on a memorandum from the public prosecutor and with the Cabinet’s approval. The power is to be used “whenever the higher interest of the state dictates it,” according to the text of the law.
Lawmakers disagreed over the law's constitutionality. Legal expert Mohammad Nour Farhat wrote: “The penal code is territorial and applied to all acts occurring on the state’s territories, including crimes, regardless of their committers [be they Egyptians or foreigners]. This matter is related to the state’s sovereignty."