CAIRO, Jun 29 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt’s cabinet approved on Wednesday extending the application of the law that permits cooperation between the armed forces and the police forces in protecting public and vital facilities for two more years.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a presidential decree on Oct. 27, 2014 allowing the military to assist police forces in the protection of public facilities. It also allowed military trials for those accused of attacking such facilities.

The law, passed shortly after the death of at least 33 security personnel in a militant attack in Sinai in October 2014.

Law 136/ 2014 aims to protect public and "vital" facilities against "terrorist operations", said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef at the time. Such facilities include electric power plants and pylons, gas pipelines, oil fields, railroads, roads and bridges. 

The law considers vital facilities as military facilities as long as they remain under military protection and any crimes committed against these facilities fall within the jurisdiction of the military judiciary.

Article 204 of Egypt’s new constitution already allows referring civilians to military trials "in cases which represent a direct assault on armed forces institutions, their camps or anything that falls under their authority, alongside assaults on military or border zones, and military institutions, vehicles, weapons, ammunition, documents, secrets, public funds, or factories."

The article was strongly condemned by civil society organisations and a number of political movements before the constitution passed. 

No Military Trials for Civilians, a group campaigning against referring civilians to military tribunals, has rallied protests against this article as well as previous legislation which allows the military trial of civilians.