The Egyptian Cabinet approved in principle on Wednesday the imposition of harsher penalties for assaulting police personnel.
The decision was made in a Cabinet meeting, and is scheduled to be passed to the legislative committee of the Shura Council, before being examined by the Shura Council in plenary in the coming days. The council is the upper house of Egypt's parliament and is currently endowed with legislative powers.
The Cabinet has justified its decision based on what they described as the repeated attacks on police while being on duty.
Police officer Mohamed Sayyed Abu-Shaqra, who served with Egypt's National Security apparatus (formerly State Security), was killed on Sunday by unknown assailants in the Sinai Peninsula. Abu-Shaqra's colleagues turned his funeral into a demonstration, chanting slogans against the interior ministry and the president.
