Egyptian President, Abdul Fattah Al-sisi has approved a set of new counter-terrorism laws aimed at tackling growing Islamic insurgency in the country.
The laws established special courts and offered additional protection from legal consequences for military and police officers who had used force.
They also impose the death penalty for anyone found guilty of setting up or leading a terrorist group.
Egypt has seen an increasing violent insurgency over the past two years by Islamist groups that aims to undermine Al- sisi’s government.
The new laws are said to have been prompted by the assassination of a public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, in a car bomb.
The Amnesty International had earlier warned that the legislation would vastly expand powers that would usually only be invoked during a state of emergency, and that it would effectively ban the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
“This new law will become yet another tool for the authorities to crush all forms of dissent and steamroll over basic human rights,” said the group’s acting Middle East and North Africa Director, Said Boumedouha.
