Egypt's justice minister demands dismissal

CAIRO - Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki on Wednesday asked to be removed from his post over the public's growing anti-judiciary sentiments, state-run news agency MENA reported.

Mekki raised his request during a regular cabinet meeting on Wednesday, citing the protests staged repeatedly against judicial verdicts and court orders, the sit-ins outside courts and prosecution headquarters, as well as the media tendency to provoke the popular discontentment as the reasons for his desire to leave his job.

But the cabinet appealed Mekki to withdraw his request.

Condemning the ongoing attacks on judiciary and prosecution, the cabinet said justice cannot be built amid such constant threats.

So as to protect judiciary independence, the cabinet has decided to establish a special police force to be assigned with protection of judicial premises in cooperation with the justice and the interior ministries, and to take legal actions against those who assault judicial bodies, according to MENA.