Cairo- Ten members of the panel drafting Egypt’s new constitution suspended work Tuesday after authorities arrested several protesters, including a few prominent activists, a committee member said.
Hoda El-Sadda, a senior member of the panel, told Agence France Presse she and nine others have “suspended work after the arrest of protesters.”
Egyptian police arrested around 30 protesters among dozens who were demonstrating in Cairo against an article in the revised basic law that allows the military to try civilians in certain cases, a security official said.
Police arrested the protesters because the demonstration was not authorized, officials said, referring to a controversial new protest law enacted over the weekend which requires protest organizers to give three days written notice to authorities.
On Tuesday, protesters were demonstrating in front of the Shura Council, where the constitution panel sits, when police used water canon to disperse them and later made arrests.
Among those arrested were Mona Seif, founder of a campaign against military trials of civilians, and Ahmad Harara, a dentist who lost his eyes to birdshot during protests against Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and against the military junta that ruled Egypt immediately after Mubarak’s fall.
