Security official praises Brotherhood sit-in dispersal

In the lead-up to the first anniversary of the violent dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins by the police on August 14, 2013, which left over 1,000 dead, the government is embarking on a campaign to justify the way the sit-ins were quelled, a move that sparked international condemnation.

In an interview with the state-owned Middle East News Agency, Ministry of Interior spokesperson Hany Abdel Latif said that the police lost a total of 114 of its men during the dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda squares last summer. 

Abdel Latif said that 30 of the 114 policemen were officers, while the rest were conscripts. He added that policemen sacrificed their souls to fight terrorism in one of its strongest waves in history. 

Abdel Latif said that the sit-ins represented crimes at the heart of the capital, and required intervention from the start. As evidence, he mentioned the arms and ammunitions found at the encampments when the dispersal took place. However, he said that the government spent time at the beginning trying to find diplomatic ways of ending the sit-ins, while Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim was working on putting together a plan that would prevent as many losses possible. 

Abdel Latif explained that the dispersals took place in six steps. The first step was the peaceful attempt at dispersing the demonstrators by convincing the leadership to leave the encampments, which was rejected by the Brotherhood, who insisted that ousted President Mohamed Morsi would return to power and that the sit-ins should continue for political pressure. 

The second step took place when Ibrahim was assigned to forcibly disperse the sit-ins, after which he put together a plan, keeping in mind that arms were present within the encampments. The third step was the Ministry of Interior's last warning to the demonstrators, who called on protesters to leave on August 13 on television and ensured of the presence of safe exits. 

The fourth step, according to Abdel Latif, was when security forces moved to the sit-ins at 6:30 am on August 14, calling on protesters via loudspeakers to leave.

In the Nahda sit-in, the fifth step saw forces fire tear gas to disperse protesters, while they removed the tents and found concealed arms. Abdel Latif stated that the dispersal process was supposed to take place in two hours, but the armed response from locations close to the Nahda sit-in extended the operation beyond that.  

The final step was the Rabea sit-in dispersal. Abdel Latif also said that within an hour of calling on protesters to leave the sit-ins peacefully through safe exits, Muslim Brotherhood members climbed on sand barriers they had erected at the entrance of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in and started firing heavily at security personnel. In the case of Rabea al-Adaweya, the dispersal process took close to seven hours, given the armed response of the protesters, he stated.

At the same time, he said, the Brotherhood waged violent campaigns across the nation, attacking police stations and churches in over 14 governorates. He put the number of police premises attacked during and following the dispersal at 180, churches at 22 and courtrooms at 55.

"Policemen will commemorate the day by being alert and dealing with any threat strongly," Abdel Latif said, adding that there will be no space for unlawful acts.