Police disperse solidarity protest in Abdeen

Security forces dispersed a protest in front of Abdeen Court, in downtown Cairo, shortly after noon Saturday. Demonstrators had gathered to show solidarity with 25 men jailed last week for their part in a protest at the Shura Council last Tuesday.

Their arrests and the use of force to break up a demonstration marked the first use of Egypt’s controversial new protest law. The law, which was approved by interim President Adly Mansour on November 24, requires at least three days’ notice for any planned protests. 

The 25 detainees are accused of taking part in an illegal gathering and deliberately violating the protest law. The demonstration was in protest against an article in the draft constitution that allows the trying of civilians in military courts.

The founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, Ahmed Maher, was summoned Saturday for investigation for allegedly organizing the Shura Council protest without having provided notice to authorities, as required by the protest law.

Activist Gigi Ibrahim, who took part in the Saturday protest, said that when Maher arrived for investigation at Abdeen Court, a group of “disgruntled protesters” attacked him. According to Ibrahim, it was only then that security forces intervened and used tear gas to disperse the protest.

“Many protesters were increasingly angry about Maher's latest stances, so some of them attacked him,” Ibrahim told Mada Masr. “Others speculate that those who attacked him were security agents involved in the protest, to give security the justification to disperse the protest. No one knows the exact reasons why he was attacked.”

Police threw stones at the protesters and fired a large amount of tear gas, forcing protesters into nearby side streets.

Prior to the dispersal, protesters wearing white track suits held up their state-issued ID cards and prepared to surrender to the state, claiming that they were the ones who had called for Tuesday’s Shura Council protest.

Of the more than 50 people originally arrested, only the male protesters remain in custody. In addition to the 25 now being held, a further 26 protesters — all of them women — were originally arrested by security forces. Hours after their detention, however, in the early hours of Wednesday, they were driven to the outskirts of Cairo and left on the side of the road.

Those arrested claim that police physically and sexually assaulted many of them.

Activist Alaa Abd El Fattah was arrested on Thursday night on the same charges as Maher of the April 6 movement. Police entered Abd El Fattah's home by force, confiscated all laptops and mobile phones, and beat both him and his wife, activist Manal Bahey. On Friday the state prosecutor ordered Abd El Fattah be detained for four days pending investigations, his lawyers reported.