Egypt blocks effort to revive martial law

CAIRO – A move by Egypt’s ruling generals to revive martial law was blunted Tuesday by a court that struck down a government decree that had allowed soldiers and military intelligence services to arrest civilians during the nation’s political turmoil.

The decision by an administrative court, which followed an outcry from human rights groups, was a rebuke to the ruling generals, who have tightened their hold on the country to prevent newly elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi from accumulating power. The decree had given the army authority to target activists protesting against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The court’s ruling came amid fresh political moves and news of one curious disappearance. Morsi met with his advisers to choose a new Cabinet ahead of his expected swearing in on Saturday as Egypt’s first freely elected president.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Shafiq, who Morsi defeated in the June 16-17 runoff election, left the country amid mounting financial corruption charges stemming from his time as Egypt’s civil aviation minister.

Airport officials in Cairo said Shafiq, a retired air force general and the last prime minister to serve under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, fled with his family. Suggestions swirled that Shafiq wanted to avoid a possible investigation and trial under a government led by Morsi.

The court’s ruling on the martial law provision was praised by human rights groups as a potential first move to gradually roll back the broad powers the military has seized since Mubarak’s downfall in February 2011. Unlike the Supreme Constitutional Court, which is dominated by judges appointed by Mubarak, the administrative court tends to act more independently of the government. Its decision still can be appealed.

The case began June 13, when the Ministry of Justice handed the army wider security authority as protests against military rule intensified days before the run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. The military-backed interim government had earlier allowed the nation’s 30-year-old emergency law to lapse; the decree was criticized as an attempt to restore it.

The security decree was part of a series of aggressive actions the military has taken this month, including a constitutional declaration that significantly reduced presidential powers and a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court to dissolve the Islamist-controlled parliament. Both moves were widely regarded as the military’s attempt to counter the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The worst two decisions made by the military council over the past week were the military law decree and the constitutional declaration,” Gamal Eid, an Egyptian human rights lawyer and founder of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said. “We put an end to the decree; it is now up to the new president to stop the constitutional declaration.”