Security legislations to be referred to parliament this week

Interior Minister General Magdy Abdel Ghafar announced that draft laws pertaining to security measures needed to regain order and security on the Egyptian street and restore the mutual respect between the citizen and the security apparatus will be referred to parliament within hours.

Interviewed by MENA, Abdel Ghafar said the legal affairs sector at the ministry has finalized the new legislations which were devised to amend some stipulations of the police authority No.109 for the year 1971, noting that the amendments were sent to the cabinet that has approved it and referred it to the state council's legislation committee to be reviewed and sent to the cabinet that will finally refer it to the parliament this week.

The minister said the new legislations aim, in the first place, to control the relation between the citizen and policemen based on respect for the freedom and dignity of the citizens at police premises or outside them. 

They also aimed at protecting policemen against breaches of some citizens and guarantee them perform their duties in maintaining security and safety.

The minister also made it clear that police have come under a smearing campaign which exaggerated in reaction to some "individual" abuse incidents that took place against citizens and showed them as an orchestrated and collective approach by the police elements.

The wide majority of policemen are working seriously and dedicated to their mission to maintain security in light of the serious challenges facing them, the minister added.

He cited examples of punishing policemen who committed mistakes and for their abuse incidents, saying three policemen were referred to the reserve troops in one week.

As per Reuters news agency claims on arresting of Italian student Julio Regeni for seven days before his death in Egypt, the minister categorically denied such claims, asserting that Regeni was never detained by security elements prior to his death.

He asserted that foreign media are propagating rumors without any material evidence to distract the public opinion and harm interrogations being conducted into the incident.

The minister also pointed out that the Egyptian interrogation team welcomed their Italian counterparts who started a visit to Egypt on February 5 to follow up on the interrogations and get briefed on the outcome of the Egyptian team's probe.

Abdel Ghaffar also asserted deep Egyptian-Italian relations, noting that an investigation team was swiftly formed after the incident to probe the circumstances of Regeni's murder and the conditions of his stay in Egypt which did not exceed six months.

On his assessment of the 33rd session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, held in Tunisia over the past few days, the minister said the conference has provided a good opportunity for consultation over means of combating terrorism in all Arab countries, control of borders, arms smuggling and the movement of terrorist elements across the borders to carry out operations to threaten the sovereignty of Arab countries, backed by antagonist powers and international organizations. 

As per the ministry's efforts to combat terrorism, the minister said the security bodies have recently managed to undermine terrorist activities in Egypt.

He highly appreciated the efforts of the policemen who worked hard and sacrificed their lives to undermine any vicious schemes to target the country. He also warned against the enrollment of youths via the internet to join terrorist organizations, noting that the police have recently deactivated some social media pages that had been inciting antagonist acts against the state, the police and army personnel.

In the meantime, the minister denied reports on secret detention in Egypt, noting that some human rights organizations are working to promote for this idea, upon incitement from the banned Muslim Brotherhood group and their leaders outside Egypt, in order to exercise pressure on the Egyptian government and intimidate the citizens.

Source: MENA