Top Egyptian judicial body rips Morsy

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 general prosecutor, 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.

[link to edition.cnn.com]