Egypt’s presidential palace battleground for protests
Demonstrators are calling for the repeal of a law requiring notification in advance for peaceful protests.
CAIRO — Before sunset, Nourhan Hefzy sat on a curb outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in the upscale suburb of Heliopolis. Across the street, a dozen men and women faced rush hour traffic, holding up signs with images of detained activists.
Two security officers gazed idly at them from their chairs behind barbed wire fencing. They had previously asked the activists to leave, saying a sit-in is illegal under Egypt’s protest law. But Hefzy, a petite brunette, replied firmly, “We are here to protest the law.”
Hefzy had called for a sit-in at the palace this past week after a court upheld a three-year prison sentence for her husband, Ahmed Douma, and April 6 Youth Movement founding members Ahmed Maher and Mohammed Adel. Her call was part of a nationwide campaign this month demanding a repeal of the law, under which the three were sentenced.
Now that a number of detainees are seeing their appeals rejected, activists are renewing pressure on President Adly Mansour to repeal the law he issued and release the detained.
