CAIRO: The Legislative Committee of the House of Representatives of Egypt has approved a bill to increase the penalty for sexual harassment.
Egypt has witnessed several high-profile incidents recently that angered many members of the public, which prompted a number of MPs to submit a special bill to increase penalties.
The bill, submitted by the Nation’s Future Party, included making the charge a felony instead of a misdemeanor, and covers anyone who harasses others in a public or private place by making sexual or pornographic insinuations, whether by sign, word, or deed by any means, including wire, wireless, electronic or other technical means.
Imprisonment for a period of no less than two years and no more than four years, and a fine of no less than 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($6,370) and no more than 200,000, or a combination of these penalties can be imposed under the bill.
Repeat offenders, meanwhile, could face up to five years in prison and a fine of 300,000 pounds, with additional breaches of the law facing even harsher sanctions of double the above penalties.
The bill stipulates that if the offender has occupational, family, or educational authority over the victim, or if they exert any pressure on them, or if the crime is committed by two or more people, or at least one of them carries a weapon, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of no less than seven years and a fine of no less than 300,000 pounds, and no more than 500,000.
Former Egyptian President Adly Mansour issued a decree in 2014 to increase the penalty for sexual harassment.
It stipulated that a penalty of imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no more than 5,000 pounds, or one of these two penalties, could be imposed on anyone who harasses another, according to Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk, with similar doubling of penalties for repeat offenders.
Egypt toughens law on sex harassment
https://arab.news/5jasz
Egypt toughens law on sex harassment
- The bill, submitted by the Nation’s Future Party, includes making the charge a felony instead of a misdemeanor
Death toll in Iran protests over 3,000, rights group says
- The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule
- President Donald Trump, who had threatened ‘very strong action’ if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings
DUBAI: More than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in Internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The US-based HRANA group said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, after residents said the crackdown appeared to have broadly quelled protests for now and state media reported more arrests.
The capital Tehran has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters. Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
A resident of a northern city on the Caspian Sea said the streets there also appeared calm.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic, culminating in mass violence late last week. According to opposition groups and an Iranian official, more than 2,000 people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Metrics show a very slight rise in Internet connectivity in #Iran this morning” after 200 hours of shutdown, the Internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X. Connectivity remained around 2 percent of ordinary levels, it said.
A few Iranians overseas said on social media that they had been able to message users living inside Iran early on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump, who had threatened “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
Iran had not announced plans for such executions or said it had canceled them.
Indian students and pilgrims returning from Iran said they were largely confined to their accommodations while in the country, unable to communicate with their families back home.
“We only heard stories of violent protests, and one man jumped in front of our car holding a burning baton, shouting something in the local language, with anger visible in his eyes,” said Z Syeda, a third-year medical student at a university in Tehran.
India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that commercial flights were available and that New Delhi would take steps to secure the safety and welfare of Indian nationals.
