Clashes break out as activists protest in solidarity with Mahienour al-Massry

Clashes broke out between protesters of the “Dedak” (Against you) campaign against the presidential bid of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Sisi supporters in downtown Cairo on Saturday.

The protest began after a press conference in front of the Journalists Syndicate in solidarity with jailed Alexandrian activist Mahienour al-Massry.

The “Free Mahinour” campaign organized the presser to shed light on the case of Massry and the conditions of her imprisonment, as leading human rights activists gathered to praise her revolutionary role, slamming the Protest Law as well.

Activists said they were attacked by a march supporting the military presidential hopeful in Mahmoud Bassiony street, where glass bottles were thrown at them.

Eyewitnesses said that the protest was attacked by people allegedly identified as “thugs” who were carrying banners of Sisi.

The protest had been chanting anti-regime slogans, and called for the release of all detainees and the repeal of the contentious Protest Law.

Founder of the Al-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Tortured Victims Aida Seif al-Dawla told presser attendants that Massry is “the symbol of the revolution.”

“The regime that killed Khaled Saeed is the same regime campaigning for Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidential bid. Sisi is Mubarak’s regime,” Dawla said.

Protesters criticized the law that was passed months ago, which was initially drafted by the Ministry of Interior and stipulates that protests cannot be organized without prior notification of security forces.

The law was slammed for threatening freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly, and was widely condemned by local and international human rights organizations.

Leading activists face trials in both criminal and misdemeanor courts for violating the controversial law, including Alaa Abd El Fattah, Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel. The case of Massry and eight others is the most recent of these trials.

Egyptian authorities and former Defense Minister Sisi were slammed for passing the law, and for cracking down on the "symbols of the 2011 Egyptian revolution."

Sisi stated in recent interviews that the Protest Law is necessary to organize the right to protest, and to avoid further chaos in a country that has been witnessing a turbulent security situation since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi last July.

Activist Ahmed Harara, who lost both of his eyes in different confrontations with police forces in 2011, said at the press conference that everyone will continue to call for the fall of the regime until there is real accountability.

“As long as injustice persists, the people want the fall of the regime,” Harara said.

Massry was taken into custody after an appeals court upheld a two-year sentence against her and eight others for breaking the Protest Law on Tuesday.

Her case dates back to a protest on December 2, 2013, outside the trial for police officers accused of murdering Khaled Saeed in 2010. Arrest warrants were issued to five protestors, based on charges of inciting violence and destroying a police car, privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. 

Police forces arrested over 15 activists in Alexandria on Thursday after they organized a similar solidarity protest for Massry. Police also stormed the office of the Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights (ECSER), beating activists and allegedly sexually assaulting a group of female protesters.

At the presser in front of the Journalists Syndicates, lawyer and founder of ECSER, Khaled Ali, said that all of the arrested activists had been released.

Ali praised Massry for her revolutionary roles, adding that she defended social justice.

Wafaa al-Massry, Mahinour’s aunt, said at the conference that she speaks about the jailed activist not because she is her niece, but because she is her partner in the revolution’s dream.

“Mahienour represents the dream of the Egyptian revolution. The Protest Law is void,” the grieving aunt said.

Alexandrian activist Taher Mokhtar, who was one of the activists that were briefly detained on Thursday, recounted the assaults that he and others were subject to by police forces.

Mokhtar said that he filed a complaint against the head of Alexandria investigations police, Nasser al-Abd, for leading the task-force that assaulted the protesting activists.

“The court order against Mahienour was released based on the investigations of the police, defense lawyers did not have the chance to present evidence,” Mokhtar added.

On a related note, police forces dispersed a similar protest against the Protest Law on Saturday in the northern city of Mansoura, arresting dozens of of protestors, according to Mansoura activists.

Activists said that police forces were stationed in the streets surrounding the location of the protest, and violently dispersed the protest  once it had started.