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Egypt’s journalists worry new anti-terror law could send them to jail

Egypt’s new draft anti-terrorism law is not sitting well with journalists, who claim the law is unnecessary and violates the rights of the Egyptian people.
A view shows burnt cars at the site of a car bomb attacked the convoy of Egyptian public prosecutor Hisham Barakat near his house at Heliopolis district in Cairo, Egypt, June 29, 2015. Barakat was injured when a car bomb struck his convoy as it was leaving his home in Cairo on Monday, in a high-profile attack against the judiciary, security and judicial sources said. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - RTX1I937
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CAIRO — Egypt’s proposed anti-terrorism law continues to stir up controversy under the critical eye of journalists and human rights groups who say it violates the constitution and seeks to squelch freedom of the press.

Khaled el-Balshi, a board member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, called certain articles in the proposal “shameful.” Members of the press have submitted proposed amendments to those articles, and the government expects to complete its deliberations within a few days, after which the legislation will be submitted within a week to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for approval

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