REUTERS
Egypt makes disrespecting the flag a crime -state media
(Reuters) -
Egypt's interim president has made it a crime to disrespect the national
flag or fail to stand for the national anthem, state media said on
Saturday.
Authorities have moved to
restrict protests and bolster their nationalist credentials since
then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Islamist President Mohamed
Mursi last year.
Some Islamist protesters added slogans or symbols to flags during protests after Mursi's overthrow.
Insulting
the flag would now carry a penalty of up to a year in prison or a fine
of 30,000 Egyptian pounds ($4,200), under interim President Adly
Mansour's decree, the state news agency MENA reported, quoting his
spokesman.
The red, white and black
Egyptian flag is ubiquitous in the capital Cairo, where vendors sell
the emblem on street corners and drivers fly it out of car windows.
It
has become a common sight at demonstrations and celebrations since a
2011 uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak - most recently as people
celebrated Sisi's victory in presidential elections this week.
Under the decree,
the flag and national anthem are considered "symbols of the state that
must be honored and dealt with reverently and respectfully."
The
law bans "raising, displaying or circulating the flag if it is damaged,
used or faded, or in any other improper way" as well as forbidding
adding slogans, pictures or designs to the flag, or using it as a
commercial symbol.
Since
Mursi's overthrow, Egyptian authorities have carried out a fierce
crackdown against his Muslim Brotherhood, killing hundreds of the
group's supporters during demonstrations last year and imprisoning much
of its leadership.
On Saturday,
the public prosecutor ordered the release of 228 Brotherhood supporters
in the southern province of Minya due to a lack of evidence against
them, the state-run al-Ahram newspaper's website said.
(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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