Police close stations nationwide to protest arrest of colleague

Low-ranking officers closed police stations around the country on Wednesday to protest the arrest of colleague Abel Hamid Darwish, who was accused of inciting a strike among police forces at Cairo airport last week.

According to official sources that spoke to Al-Shorouk daily newspaper, 10 police stations were closed in Giza, in addition to police stations, security directorates and other Interior Ministry facilities in Hurghada, Fayed, Assiut, Minya, Sohag, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Daqahlia, Qena, Beheira and Damietta.

Officials at Cairo Airport staged a protest last Friday against the dismissal of one of their colleagues, who was accused of harassing a tourist; a claim they say is unfounded.

The crisis escalated when police forces arrested Darwish, the leader of the movement, accusing him of inciting a strike, obstructing work at a state facility and possession of drugs. The prosecution ordered the detention of Darwish for four days pending investigation on Tuesday.

Officers staged protests at the airport on Tuesday denouncing their colleague’s arrest. The movement spread to the rest of the country on Wednesday after the public club for police personnel and civilian workers at the Interior Ministry — an independent elected body that aims to uphold the rights of junior police workers — called for nationwide strikes.

The group states on its Facebook page that its mission is “to protect police personnel from oppression and enslavement,” and lead the revolution of junior officers.

The last three years have witnessed several protest movements by low-ranking police officers demanding better wages and opportunities for career advancement.

The Interior Ministry announced on its official Facebook page that it held a press conference for foreign journalists on Tuesday, when a documentary titled “Egypt fights terrorism” was shown to “narrate internal events since June 30 and the efforts of the ministry to attain stability.” Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim attended the event.

The ministry has not yet commented on the widespread police strikes.