Official Gazette – Issue No. 8 bis (a) May 26, 2013 7 sovereignty and breaches the principle of citizenship which assumes equality among all citizens. Furthermore, it also deprives such category of participation in public life as a national duty. This, also, means violating the essence of the right to work. Such means that the text is defected since it violates article (5), first part of paragraph (1) of article (6), article (33), article (55), as well as the first and second paragraphs of article (64) of the Constitution. Third: Article (2) of the draft law stipulates that "The following categories shall be deprived of exercising political rights: 1. Convicts in a felony, unless rehabilitated; 2. Convicts sentenced to imprisonment terms for a crime of theft, hiding stolen objects, swindling, issuing an uncovered check, breach of trust, perfidy, bribery, criminal bankruptcy, forgery, using forged papers, perjury, suborning witnesses, rape, corrupting ethics, committing a breach of morals, vagrancy, and committing a crime to get rid of military or national service, as well as convicts sentenced for attempting to commit one of the said crimes, unless the sentence is passed with a stay of execution or the convict has been rehabilitated; and 3. Convicts sentenced to penalty of detention in one of the crimes prescribed in articles from (51) to (61) of such law, unless the sentence is passed with a stay of execution, or the convict has been rehabilitated. Whereas, clauses (2) and (3) of the stated article entitled convicts sentenced to imprisonment terms or penalty of detention in the crimes stated herein to exercise political rights as long as the sentence is passed with a stay of execution. However, in such case, the penal status of the convict is not stable yet, since the stay of execution may be annulled during the three-year probation period which is required for the sentence to be final. Thus, establishing equality between convicts in such case and other citizens whose history is free of a similar record violates the principle of equality. This text is considered defected since it violates article (33) as well as the first paragraph of article (55) of the Constitution. On the other hand, the first clause of this article prohibits convicts in a felony from exercising their political rights on an absolute basis without any exception, unless when a convicted has been rehabilitated. However, the third clause of the same article stipulates that the deprivation of a convict of exercising such rights lapses if such convict is sentenced to a penalty of detention and the sentence is passed with a stay of execution, in one of the crimes stated in such clause. Whereas such crimes include ones on which felony penalty is imposed, such as the case stated in the first clause of the same article, for which no exception was set out. Thus, the third paragraph breaches the principle of equality set forth in article (33) of the Constitution. Also, the penalty imposed on attempts to commit the crimes stated as offenses in articles (52), (53), (54), (55), (57), (58), (59), and (61) of the draft law is the penalty prescribed for complete crimes, as stated in article (63) of the same draft law. Whereas clause (3) does not deprive convicts sentenced to a penalty of detention for attempting to commit such crimes, as set forth in clause (2) of the stated article, the text shall also be deemed defected since it violates the principle of equality set forth in article (33) of the Constitution.