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Sisi's deportation law creates controversy

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued another controversial law to repatriate non-Egyptians accused of committing crimes, drawing criticism that it might expand the president’s privileges over the judiciary power.
Al Jazeera journalists (L-R) Mohammed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed stand behind bars at a court in Cairo May 15, 2014. The trial of the three Al Jazeera journalists accused of aiding of a "terrorist organisation" has been postponed to May 22 after the judge on Thursday authorised the defence to examine the evidence being held by the prosecution. The Qatar-based television network's journalists - Peter Greste, an Australian, Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian national, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian
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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."

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