CAIRO, Jan 7 (Aswat Masriya) - Rights lawyer Tarek Nagida said on Saturday that the officer in charge of the Sayeda Zeinab police station refused to receive notice of a  protest that is planned for next Wednesday against the referral of Egyptian-Saudi border demarcation agreement to the parliament.

The cabinet referred late December the agreement, which stipulates that the two strategic Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within Saudi territorial waters, to the parliament for ratification despite the uncertainty surrounding it.

The agreement was annulled in June by the administrative court which affirmed that both islands fall within Egypt's borders. The government appealed against the court's decision.

The fate of the two islands is set to be determined by the Supreme Administrative Court, which will issue the final ruling in the case on Jan 16.

Nagida criticised in a statement the officer's refusal to receive the notification saying it is "unjustified" as the notice included all the required details on the protest.

The interior ministry was not immediately available for comment.

In December, the Supreme Constitutional Court deemed  Article 10 of the controversial protest law, which gave the interior minister or a relevant security director the authority to prevent demonstrations, unconstitutional.

The court ruling upheld the right to peaceful protest on condition that demonstrators met the requirements stipulated in the law that include notifying the police of the date, the location and the reason for a demonstration days in advance.