Egypt's Interior Ministry on Friday said that police had dispersed several unlicensed protests staged by the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested 73 protesters countrywide.
Friday's rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, the main support bloc of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, as part of a series of weeklong activities held under the banner "The revolution is the decision-maker."
The ministry said that police had stepped in to break up clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents in Cairo's Gesr al-Suez and Helmiya districts, arresting 19 of the former.
In the adjacent Giza province, the ministry said, 11 "rioters" had been arrested after security forces dispersed a pro-Morsi march in the Talbiya neighborhood.
The remaining detained protesters were picked up in eight other provinces nationwide, the statement said.
A new protest law makes it necessary for protest organizers to submit a written request to the Interior Ministry three days before staging a demonstration.
The legislation also gives the ministry the right to deny protest organizers permission if the planned event is deemed a "threat to security or public safety" or if security conditions are deemed "inappropriate."
For the last 157 days, pro-democracy demonstrators have staged daily rallies to denounce what they describe as the July 3 "military coup" that unseated Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president – and demand his reinstatement.
According to the controversial legislation, violators will either be fined or imprisoned – penalties that have provoked outrage on the part of many Egyptian politicians and activists who say the law curbs freedoms and allows police to crack down on popular expressions of dissent.
By Mohamed Imam
englishnews@aa.com.tr
