The Egyptian House of Representatives approved on Sunday the draft law introduced by the government and Fayka Fahim, a member of the parliament, to modify articles in law number 117 of 1983 related to protecting antiquities.
Speaker of the parliament Ali Abdel Aal transferred the draft law to the State Council to be revised.
The draft law aimed to tighten the penalties prescribed for violating article 42 of the law. The new amendments include aggravated imprisonment sentences.
Before the amendment, whoever possesses or sells an antiquity or part of an antiquity outside the borders of Egypt without an official document proving its legal exit from Egypt, would just be aggravatedly imprisoned and fined. The recent addition to the article is a fine of no less than EGP 1m and no more than EGP 10m.
The new amendments also increased punishment imposed for violating the provisions of Article 45 of Law No 117 of 1983 in the matter of protecting antiquities.
According to the new amendments, the punishment includes an imprisonment period of no less than a month and a fine of no less than EGP 10,000 and no more than EGP 100,000 or one of these two punishments for everyone found present in an archaeological site or museum without a permit, or climbing an antique without obtaining a licence to do so.
The penalty shall be doubled if the previous perpetrators are related in actions that violated general morals or insult the country.
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