Egypt's Court of Cassation announced today that it would go on strike until President Mohamed Morsi rescinds a decree expanding his powers and rendering his decisions immune from judicial review.
The court said it would "suspend all work until the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Morsi last Thursday is rescinded," the official MENA news agency reported.
The move pushes Morsi further into a corner, after crowds poured into the streets yesterday to denounce what they saw as a dictatorial decree.
Earlier the Supreme Constitutional Court accused Morsi of an unjustified attack on its independence when he gave his reasons for issuing last Thursday's constitutional declaration.
"There was an attack against the court, false information was circulated about it... But the real sadness for its judges was that the president of the republic joined in the attack against the constitutional court," its head Maher al-Beheiry told reporters.
He denied Morsi's accusations that the court was biased or had leaked rulings to the media, and called on the president to provide evidence, adding that it would not "succumb to threats."
The court issued a ruling this year declaring the Islamist-led parliament void, leading to its dissolution.
