Following a court decision Tuesday, Egypt has lifted a three-month-old state of emergency that was implemented following the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. The court ordered the state of emergency lifted two days before the government intended to do so.
Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper reports:
"The court also rejected a lawsuit filed by lawyer Ahmed El-Seif El-Islam, who challenged the validity of the decision to extend the state of emergency in September.
"The state of emergency was originally imposed by presidential decree on 14 August, following the bloody dispersal of two protest camps in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. In mid-September, the state of emergency was extended for another two months, which were slated to end on Thursday 14 November.
"On Monday, Egypt's tourism minister announced that the state of emergency had been lifted in the Sinai touristic city of Sharm El-Sheikh and in the Red Sea governorate."
Reuters reports that the state of emergency allowed authorities to "make arrests without warrants and gave security officials the right to search people's homes." Over the past three months, police have arrested thousands of Morsi supporters.
What remains unclear, according to Al-Ahram, is whether the curfew that has been in place since the state of emergency was issued will be lifted as well.
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