Egypt brushes aside criticism of latest anti-terror measures

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-egypt-antiterror-measures-20140412,0,965873.story



Egyptian students, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, demonstrate outside Cairo University, on April 9, 2014.

Egypt brushes aside criticism of latest anti-terror measures
By Laura King
April 12, 2014, 5:39 a.m.

CAIRO — Egypt on Saturday sharply rejected a prominent human rights group’s criticism of two tough new draft anti-terror laws.

The measures, which have yet to be signed into law by interim President Adly Mansour, so sweepingly define terrorism that almost any sort of political activism, however peaceful, could result in prosecution, Amnesty International said in a statement issued Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty dismissed the London-based group’s criticism, characterizing it as meddling in Egypt’s affairs.

“The Egyptian government is only accountable to the Egyptian people,” he said. “Any democratic country takes measures to provide safety and security for its people.”