7 suspects arrested for attempted assassination of Mortada Mansour

Security forces arrested 7 suspects accused of attempting to assassinate Zamalek Club President Mortada Mansour and wounding three of his bodyguards as he left the club early on Sunday morning, privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported.

Giza Security officials identified 22 suspects in the incident using security footage, and arrested 7 of them on Monday in possession of the car and weapon used in the attack, privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Investigations allegedly revealed that all detainees, who range between 19 and 22 years old, are members of the Ultras White Knights group who objected to Mansour’s decision to ban the group from attending the football team’s practice sessions inside the club.   

Mansour, who is famous for his feuds and law suits against multiple groups and public figures, had accused the Muslim Brotherhood and the Ultras White Knights of the assassination attempt. General Prosecution denied any evidence pointing towards Brotherhood involvement in the attack.  

Mansour had said that two of the assailants fired a shotgun at him as he stood outside of the club at 3 am, injuring a journalist, a lawyer and a club employee instead.

The rest of the detainees were assigned to monitoring the shooters’ escape route, according to the prosecution’s investigation. They were all allegedly identified by the three wounded victims. 

The detainees were accused of attempted murder, deliberate vandalism of Mansour’s car, attempted assault of passers-by, terrorizing citizens, possession of unlicensed firearms and inciting riot. 

According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, some of the defendants denied all charges, while some confessed that they were trying to discipline Mansour due to their feud. 

Meanwhile, the group continued to deny responsibility for the attack. Multiple statements on their Facebook page over the past two days said that Mansour is accusing them in order to have an excuse to open fire on the group members at the gates of the club during their protest with the pretext of self-defense.

Mansour had warned that the club security is equipped and heavily armed and will respond with fire in case of an attack.

In another Facebook post, the group attacked the police for “conspiring with the idiot,” claiming that security forces broke into the houses of some of the group’s members on Monday morning and arrested their families to force them to surrender themselves. 

“The Interior Ministry and the idiot have started a dirty war against us because we’re fighting for one of our rights. The consequences will be dire,” they emphasized.