CAIRO
Security forces arrested 85 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi for staging "unauthorized" demonstrations in several Egyptian provinces on Friday, the Interior Ministry said.
According to the ministry, Friday's rallies by the Muslim Brotherhood were illegal, since organizers had failed to obtain prior police approval in line with new legislation regulating street protests.
Demonstrators were arrested in the Egyptian provinces of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Fayoum and Matrouh, among others.
According to the Interior Ministry, which controls Egypt's sprawling police apparatus, protesters had blocked roads and assaulted civilians and security forces.
A controversial new law makes it necessary for protest organizers to submit a written request to the ministry three days before staging a protest.
The legislation allows the ministry 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."
According to the law, violators will either be fined or imprisoned – penalties that have provoked outrage on the part of Egyptian activists who say the legislation curbs freedoms and gives police free rein to crack down on popular expressions of dissent.
Supporters of the ousted president staged several rallies on Friday following calls by the pro-Morsi National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy to protest against an upcoming referendum on a revised version of Egypt's 2012 constitution.
On January 14 and 15, Egypt plans to hold a public referendum on the revised 2012 charter, which was suspended by the military following Morsi's ouster this summer by the military.
The upcoming vote is the first phase of an army-imposed roadmap for political transition, which also includes parliamentary and presidential elections sometime next year.
For the last 176 days, Morsi supporters have staged rallies on an almost daily basis to denounce what they describe as the July 3 "military coup" against the elected leader and demand his reinstatement.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
