Egypt’s Sisi gives military broader power to put civilians on trial

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi moved Monday to expand the scope of military trials for civilians – tribunals of a type that were a hot-button issue during the uprising that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak more than three years ago.

Sisi issued a decree that would allow military trials for those accused in any attack against a broadened array of state infrastructure. Previously, that jurisdiction applied mainly to attacks on targets directly linked to the military.

The Sisi administration insisted the decree was not intended to tighten restrictions on dissent, but those charged under a tough anti-protest law are often also accused of attacking or damaging state property.

On Sunday, 23 activists convicted under last year’s anti-protest law received three-year jail terms, and on Monday, bail was revoked for another well-known activist who is appealing a 15-year jail sentence for offenses including illegal protest.

The government decree regarding attacks on infrastructure – including power installations, major roadways and bridges – came three days after suspected militants killed 31 Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula, one of the country’s biggest one-day losses of military lives since the 1960s.

Sisi’s government vowed a forceful counterterrorism campaign in response and blamed “outside” forces for plotting the strikes.

Under the decree, crimes against all “public institutions, facilities and properties” now come under the jurisdiction of military courts. Rights groups say military tribunals, which are usually swift and secret, deprive defendants of due process.

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