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Egypt court postpones lawsuit to abolish demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia

May 18, 2016 at 2:14 pm

The Egyptian administrative court at the State Council on Tuesday has postponed the session on the lawsuit to abolish the Egyptian–Saudi maritime demarcation agreement which transferred sovereignty of the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia till June, 7, Anadolu News Agency reported.

The lawsuit was filed by lawyer Khaled Ali as well as other lawyers and citizens.

Lawyer Tariq Al Awadhi told the court that the agreement waivers Egypt’s sovereignty rights over the two islands, adding that several journalists are now imprisoned because they oppose the agreement.

Lawyer Khaled Ali told the court that he had sent letters to the president of the republic as well as the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and defence demanding them to stop any hand over of Egyptian territories to Saudi Arabia.

Ali said the agreement should be discussed in the Egyptian Parliament first then put to a public referendum in accordance with Article 151 of the Constitution.

The article reads: “the President of the republic shall represent the state in foreign relations and shall conclude treaties and ratify them after approval from Parliament.”

Egypt signed last month an agreement giving up its sovereign rights over the two islands to Saudi Arabia, angering thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets to protest the agreement.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, an Egyptian court sentenced 101 people to five years in prison for protesting the agreement bringing the number of prisoners jailed to 152 people.