By Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Reza Sayah, CNN
November 25, 2012 -- Updated 0325 GMT (1125 HKT)
Clashes rocked the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday.
Egyptians protest over presidential powers
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: 128 police officers have been injured in clashes since Thursday, a spokesman says
- A judges' group calls for a nationwide strike; another group opposes it
- Council calls move an "unprecedented attack" on judicial independence
- President Morsy says his actions are aimed at fostering "political and social stability"
Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt's highest judicial body joined
protesters Saturday in lambasting the country's president for issuing a
decree disabling the courts and giving him unchecked power.
President Mohamed Morsy
on Thursday announced that courts could not overturn any decree or law
he has issued since taking office in June and, beyond that, in the six
months until a new constitution is finalized, his spokesman said on
state-run TV.
He also fired Egypt's
prosecutor general, who has been criticized for the insufficient
prosecutions of those suspected in demonstrators' deaths in 2011.
The Supreme Judicial
Council, the highest judicial body in Egypt, weighed in Saturday,
calling the decree an "unprecedented attack on the independence of the
judicial branch," state-run media reported.
"The Supreme Judicial
Council, which is in charge of all matters related to the judiciary and
the judges, expresses its dismay at the issuance of such a decree and is
calling on the president of the republic to distance himself from all
matters related to the judicial branch and its agencies," state news
agency MENA said.
The president's decree
sparked demonstrations in Egypt and widespread anger in the country at
Morsy, who had been widely praised across the world for spearheading a
cease-fire agreement in Gaza after eight days of fighting between Israel
and Hamas.
According to state-run
EGYNews, which cited the Health Ministry, 261 people have been injured
in clashes in Cairo and elsewhere since Morsy made his announcement.
Forty-three of those reportedly remain in hospitals. The report did not
indicate whether those injured were Morsy supporters or opponents.
Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa Mahmoud said 128 police officers were injured in clashes nationwide.
Dozens of protesters,
some throwing rocks, faced off in central Cairo on Saturday morning with
police, who fired tear gas canisters at them. The gas drifted through
streets near a more thinly populated Tahrir Square, where just a day
before thousands of protesters called for the overthrow of the regime.
Egyptian state TV
reported clashes outside the judicial building in Cairo between
opponents and supporters of the government. Clashes continued into the
evening between protesters and security forces, with police firing tear
gas and warning shots in the air near the Interior Minsitry.
Ministry spokesman
Mahmoud said hundreds of Morsy supporters and members of the Muslim
Brotherhood attempted to storm the building, but riot police stopped
them.
The protesters
congregated at the entrance of the judicial building. That's where the
leadership of the Egypt Judges Club, an association of judges from
across the country, was meeting with former Prosecutor General
Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud.
The judges and Mahmoud vehemently oppose Morsy's actions.
"The people want to execute the prosecutor general," the pro-Morsy protesters chanted outside the building.
The general assembly of
the judges' club has called for a nationwide strike in all courts and
prosecution offices to protest the president's move, state-run Nile TV
reported.
Judges in Alexandria and Damanhour say they are putting all court hearings on hold until further notice.
Yet other judges offered
support for Morsy. The Judges for Egypt movement, a nongovernmental
organization made up of judges, denounced any call for a strike,
according to state TV.
Morsy's supporters plan
to assert their clout throughout the week. The Muslim Brotherhood, the
movement Morsy once led, will stage nationwide demonstrations starting
Sunday to back the president's decrees and plans. It also announced a
"Million Man" demonstration Tuesday at Abdeen Square in Cairo in support
of Morsy's decisions.
Nearly two years after
popular unrest spurred former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's fall,
throngs have taken to Egypt's streets in past days to call for
revolution again, this time for the ouster of his successor.
Tents dot Cairo's Tahrir
Square, just as they did during the 2011 uprising, and clashes between
protesters and police were reported Friday in the capital, the port city
of Alexandria and elsewhere around the North African nation. Opposition
leaders say they are firm in their resolve and, in Cairo's landmark
square at least, scores could be seen milling about overnight.
In a country already
without a parliament, Morsy's announcement means he seems to have total
executive, legislative and now judicial authority, all as a new
constitution is being written.
Clashes and anguish near Tahrir Square
Protests and clashes erupt in Egypt
Air thick with tear gas in Tahrir Square
Egypt's Morsy grants himself more power
"It's unprecedented,
it's unimaginable, it's more (power) than Mr. Mubarak ever had," Mohamed
ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and head of Egypt's Constitution Party,
told CNN. "This is the language of a dictator."
ElBaradei, a one-time head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged "civil disobedience."
"Endorsing the position
of ElBaradei, (former Arab League chief) Amr Moussa and others, I urge
all who voted for me to stand with us against the tyranny of the
regime," wrote
Ahmed Shafik, a former prime minister who received 48% of the vote in this year's presidential run-off, on Twitter.
Despite such opposition, Morsy was defiant and insistent Friday that his actions are in the interests of the Egyptian people.
"I have dedicated myself
and my life for democracy and freedom," he told hundreds of supporters
outside the presidential palace in Cairo. "The steps I took are meant to
achieve political and social stability."
The chair of Egypt's
Cabinet, Mohamed Refaa al-Tahtawi, brushed back criticisms that Morsy
had made an undemocratic power grab, saying the opposite is true and
that Morsy "is not really trying to monopolize power."
"He is trying to have
strong pillars for a steady progress toward democracy," al-Tahtawi said.
"A dictator would not try to have an elected parliament as soon as
possible."
The Cabinet chief added, "I assure you that in the coming days, the opposition will fade away and calm down."
But that sentiment was not shared by everyone.
Tensions were brewing days before the president's moves; protesters have been in Tahrir Square since Monday.
The anger has been
directed at Morsy and the Islamist movement of which he is a member. The
Muslim Brotherhood was banned under Mubarak but has since risen
exponentially in stature. There has also been growing turmoil about the
constitutional panel, pitting conservatives who want Egypt to be
governed by Islam's Sharia law against moderates and liberals pushing
for it to ensure basic freedoms, including for women.
On Friday in Tahrir
Square, thousands had Morsy in mind as they chanted, "Leave, leave," and
"The people want to topple the regime," the signature phrase of the
Arab Spring uprisings, cried out from Tunisia to Egypt and Syria.
Nearby, in front of
Egypt's parliament building, thousands of protesters threw rocks as
police used their vehicles and tear gas to keep the crowd contained.
A Cairo doctor said
Saturday that a day earlier he treated five patients who had been
wounded by shot pellets. But most of the injuries Dr. Mahmoud Said
handled at Mounira Hospital were cuts resulting from hurled stones.
The top floor of an
eight-story apartment building caught on fire Friday night, a blaze
protesters blamed on a police tear gas canister tossed at demonstrators
who were on top of the building earlier in the day.
About 215 kilometers
(130 miles) north in Alexandria, protesters on Friday stormed the
headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing and set it on
fire, said Ahmed Sobea, a spokesman for the Freedom and Justice Party.
Calling for calm and
dialogue, the U.S. State Department expressed concern Friday about the
developments, saying, "One of the aspirations of the revolution was to
ensure that power would not be overly concentrated in the hands of any
one person or institution."
Thus far, authorities
have arrested 210 protesters, 85 of whom are charged with destroying
public property, thuggery and attacking security forces, the Interior
Ministry said, according to state TV. Some 44 of those arrested are
juveniles who are now back with their families.
"My worry ... is that
the while situation will turn ugly, will turn violent if Morsy doesn't
rescind (his) decisions (and) engage in dialogue with the rest of the
country," ElBaradei said, adding he had met with Morsy a week ago and
felt blindsided by his moves.
Sipah E Mukhtar News 
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