Rights advocates question Egypt’s decision to extend state of emergency
Critics of the Egyptian government fear that a three-month extension of the state of emergency will be used to crack down on them.
Egypt’s Cabinet on June 22 approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s proposal to extend the state of emergency by an additional three months, a move that rights advocates fear will further curtail freedoms in Egypt.
In a speech on the occasion of Laylat Ul Qadr (the night when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad), Sisi sought to justify the planned extension by highlighting the threat posed by extremist groups “that spread hatred and use religion to achieve their political goals.”
