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1 | 2009-12-04 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-egypts-football-fundamentalists | In light of the ongoing Egypt-Algeria football controversy, local sports commentators and news outlets have spoken of the need for diehard football fans to support the Egyptian national team and to protect Egyptian spectators. Such calls have grown increasingly strident since the violent acts of hooliganism - variously referred to in the local press as "Algerian terrorism" and "barbaric assaults" - perpetrated in Sudan on 18 November, which resulted in the injury of some 15 Egyptian fans. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Egyptian sportscasters and pundits have repeatedly called for the enlistment of rough-and-ready fans from working-class districts of Cairo ahead of scheduled matches in order to confront would-be hooligans. There have also been calls for the mobilization of Egypt's "football fundamentalists," known as the "Ultras." Had these two elements been present at the match in Sudan, the Egyptian team would have won the game and Egyptian fans would have been safe from Algerian hooliganism - at least that's the argument. In Latin, the term "Ultra" means "beyond," while its current, local usage refers to the enthusiasm of sports fans that goes far beyond that of normal people. The label first emerged in the late 1960s when it was used to describe the hardest-core fans of football teams in the UK, Europe and South America. With their choreographed "tifo" displays, these dedicated sports fundamentalists would show up at matches in the hundreds or thousands, often equipped with flares, drums and massive banners. The term "Ultras" does not only apply to fanatics of football, but also to those of other sports, including basketball, volleyball and handball. In Egypt, there are five distinct groups of Ultras that support five different football clubs. The Zamalek's White Knights and Ultras Ahlawy were established in 2007, to be followed by the Masry's Green Eagles, Ismaili's Yellow Dragons and the Ultras 300 of Tanta. A leading member of the White Knights, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the match in Sudan had been attended by only a handful of Ultras. "Only a few of our members attended. This is because none of the Ultras support the national team per se," he said. "There are no Ultras for the Egyptian national team - only normal fans and some ordinary hooligans. But we Ultras go above and beyond this level of support. "While it's true there was a bus loaded with Ultras - including both White Knights and Ahly Ultras - in Sudan, this was an exception," he added. "This isn't the way we operate. None of the Ultras would organize for the national team, only for their respective clubs." Nonetheless, "this busload of Ultras confronted the Algerian hooligans and was able to protect female Egyptian football fans in the area," he added. The White Knight went on to describe what happened in Sudan as "nothing out of the ordinary." "The level of Algerian hooliganism was in no way exceptional. We frequently see higher levels of violent hooliganism between competing Egyptian clubs both during and after matches, where scuffles break out and stones are thrown," he said. "In fact, we Ultras sometimes attack our own club members and managers when their performances fall into decline. This is our way of encouraging them to improve their performance." He went on to refer to one Zamalek basketball fan who suffered serious burns in February 2008 when Ahly fans hurled incendiary bombs at Zamalek fans following the defeat of their team. "Eleven of our fans have been imprisoned and nine have been charged with assaulting soldiers following a match in 2008 between the army's football team and Zamalek," he said. "Following Zamalek's defeat, our fans pelted soldiers with stones and the soldiers retaliated in kind. Soldiers even unleashed dogs on us... The Algerian hooliganism that took place in Sudan pales in comparison to the violent hooliganism that takes place here in Egypt - or anywhere else in the world for that matter," he concluded. Similar "football wars" have been fought in the past, including a full-fledged military conflict in July 1969 following FIFA World Cup qualifying matches between El Salvador and Honduras. With El Salvador's victory, nationalist sentiments where whipped into a frenzy by media from both sides until war was formally declared. Over 2,000 civilians - mostly Honduran - and some 1,000 troops from both countries were killed in the violent aftermath, while another 300,000 civilians - mostly Salvadoran - were rendered homeless. |
2 | 2009-12-04 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/when-all-else-fails | Science is an engine of progress. Perhaps more importantly critical thinking, skepticism and a culture of research and contemplation are the engines of civilization. And so when Hazem Zohny in Science and faith among Egyptians: Compatible? googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); finds that less than 10 percent of Egyptians accept evolution theory while some 40 percent have never heard of Darwin we should be alarmed. In dealing with the scientific, we have capitulated to religion. But we should not be surprised. It is all too possible that as we face increased poverty, disparity, human rights abuses - in Rights groups call Egypt a "police state", we report that once again independent human rights organizations reiterate that police torture is systematic and that a "state of impunity" rules - and diminishing options people might opt to turn their backs on civilization. From hijab - towards which we have complex attitudes as Ashraf Khalil explains in Hijab-free Zones? - to niqab. From tolerance to bigotry. From basic street courtesy to mayhem. Last week's Eid vacation being a case in point as those - mostly of veiled women - who braved crowded streets were harassed by the masses of young men out to have a good time. There were no incidents as collectively violent as 2007's episodes but the level of tension women now face on Egyptian streets is intimidating nonetheless. There can be little doubt that this is the same mindset as those who descended on Zamalek before the holiday with the sole aim of attacked the Algerian Embassy after Egypt lost the World Cup qualifying match to Algeria in the Sudan. They are the young men whom the mainstream press has all but unanimously called "the real Egyptians." We have been told by all and sundry that these men would have represented us gloriously (read: beat the living daylights out of the Algerians) should the government had the sense to send them to Sudan instead of the artistic types (read: wimps). And so it has come to be: the hooligan is now the venerated Egyptian citizen. As a leading journalist commented to me at the height of the Egypt-Algeria hysteria: "No one seems to care that these hooligans will be the very ones to burn down Cairo sometime in perhaps the not so distant future." But then, critical, insightful thinking is not always a hallmark of our collective consciousness. I remind you of evolution theory never mind football. |
3 | 2010-12-25 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/19-zamalek-fans-handed-one-year-prison | The Qasr al-Nil Misdemeanor Court on Saturday sentenced 19 Zamalek football club fans to a year in prison, and referred 12 others to a juvenile court. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); 31 Zamalek "Ultras" were questioned on charges of rioting at the Ahly club, causing damage at the sports establishment and firing flares following a handball match between the two customary rivals. Meanwhile, Zamalek football club has called for reconciliation with Ahly and expressed readiness to compensate for the damages incurred. Translated from the Arabic Edition. |
4 | 2011-04-24 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/post-revolutionary-ultras-still-full-fight | The difference between ultras and casual soccer fans is simple but crucial. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); "What separates ultras from normal fans is how radical they are," explains Mohamed Gamal, sportswriter, author of the upcoming "Ultras Handbook" and in 2007 founder of the Zamalek White Knights. In short, ultras are the type of supporters commonly referred to as "soccer hooligans" - a term that seems well-deserved considering their history of violent antics and vandalism. In a country where soccer is as much an issue of personal pride as a national sport, and where, until recently, 'freedom of expression' was largely limited to expressions of triumphant victory or crushing defeat on the field, it comes as no surprise that tensions constantly ran high between the opposing groups, as well as authorities. In recent weeks there has been a renewed focus on the ultras. Three weeks ago an all-out brawl erupted during a match between Tunisia and Zamalek in which several members of the Tunisian team and an Algerian referee were injured. Some local media reported that ultras were mobilized during the 18-day uprising that led to the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak, both on the anti- and pro-regime sides. But even in the new era of political openness, ultras plan to remain apolitical and committed to their usual antics. Despite being a die-hard Zamalek supporter, Gamal recently left the group (to "focus on other interests," he claims) but is still considered an authority on the ultras movement in general. "They are extremists, if you want to use that word," he says. "And like all extremists, they make people a little anxious." There is no shortage of well-documented incidents - including the recent Zamalek-Tunisia clash - between Egypt's two largest ultras groups, the White Knights and the Ultras Ahlawy, as well as other, smaller groups such as the Yellow Dragons from Ismalia, or Tanta's 300. However, Gamal argues that the media is partly to blame for the largely negative public opinion. "First, there's the problem of the media not understanding the individual groups and, as such, not being able to differentiate between them," explains Gamal. "So, they end up clumping them all together under the same name - ultras." Another problem, he says, is the lack of what he calls "respectable and reliable" sports journalists. "A lot of sportswriters and media personalities are paid to slander a certain group, or shift public opinion against them for the sake of an opposing team," he claims. Nevertheless, and as Gamal is quick to corroborate, "the ultras do tend to get violent very quickly." His explanation for the Zamalek-Tunisia brawl is simply that "the fans were unhappy with a decision made by the referee, and they went down to the pitch. Which is normal." Surprisingly, Gamal's dismissal of the stadium-wide altercation as a typical byproduct of ultra-fuelled belligerence is not shared by current members of the White Knights, particularly those who claim to have been there. Gathering in front of the Tunisian embassy days after the incident, a large group of White Knights held up banners and posters and called out chants, in an attempt to apologize for the assault. Those who had been directly involved in the ruckus seemed the most penitent. "Most Tunisians wouldn't accept our apologies on Facebook and internet sports sites," complained 21-year-old Omar Madar. "That's why we're here." If the Tunisians rejected the initial wave of Facebook apologies, it's safe to assume that the White Knights' second attempt at reconciliation - which Gamal would probably describe as being "typically" aggressive - also failed to win them over. Despite being gathered for a shared purpose, the group of approximately 300 supporters argued loudly among themselves, trading insults, orders and threats. The less abrasive members playfully shoved each other into the street and passing traffic. The fact that they all seemed to be sober robbed them of any potentially redeeming excuse. "We had no intention of destroying anything or attacking anyone," Madar said, recalling the Zamalek-Tunisia game. "We even went to the game with banners supporting the Tunisians' revolution." "We cheered and saluted their team when they came onto the pitch," he said. "I don't know what sparked that fight," says his friend and fellow White Knight Amir Mohamed. "But I remember thinking it was weird that the police weren't searching anyone at the stadium. We [my friends and I] thought it probably had something to do with the tension that still existed between police and civilians, but they still should have searched people." "I'm a good person with good intentions," Mohamed says. "But there were other people there who you couldn't say that about, and they should have been searched." When asked about whether he joined the sudden violence or remained in the stands as many fans did, Mohamed answers without hesitation. "Of course I went down there. The White Knights have one thing on their mind - the Zamalek team. I had to go down there and support them in any way that I could." "Besides," he insists, "everyone else was doing it." Ignoring all inquiries into the exact methods of his "support," Mohamed instead clarified, "We're not trying to blame this on the National Democratic Part, or suggest that there was some conspiracy behind the fight. It was just a bunch of excited fans with nobody to stop them." "It was a trap," he said, "and we fell into it." It remained unclear who Mohamed and other similarly-thinking White Knights believe was responsible for setting the trap, as at that point the interview was interrupted by an elderly Knight who pushed this Al-Masry Al-Youm reporter aside and asked for "cover" so that he could urinate against a parked car. This type of behavior is the lighter side of what people seem to expect from ultras in general, and while it is generally frowned upon, Gamal suggests that it gave them an upper hand in the chaos of the recent revolution. "The ultras are not politically active," he says, dismissing recent suggestions extremist fan groups had mobilized in support of either the protesters or former president Hosni Mubarak. While several recognizable figures such as national team coach Hassan Shehata and Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan, who share a history as twin idols of pettiness and bad sportsmanship, took to the streets in support of the toppled dictator, encouraging intimidation tactics and outright violence, Gamal argues that the ultras failed to form a united front, and instead reacted as "Egyptians rather than soccer fans." "They didn't mobilize as a group, or anything like that," Gamal states. "The only difference between an ultra and a normal protester is that the former knows how to take on a state security officer, out of previous experience." Four ultras were killed in the 18-day uprising that led to Mubarak's resignation. "The ultras just treated it like a typical fight," he explains. "They went in there and bashed heads and took rubber bullets, and kept fighting. They're used to it." |
5 | 2011-05-09 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-activists-plan-15-may-march-gaza | In the wake of youth-led uprisings across the Arab world, several international activist groups are calling for a "march of millions" into Gaza. The march is scheduled for 15 May, the 63rd anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel - commonly referred to in Arabic as googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); the Nakba, or catastrophe. The march seems to have resulted from simultaneous calls for a large initiative to mark the anniversary made by several unrelated international activist groups, including some inside the Palestinian territories. Since its announcement, the initiative has been described by various online groups as "The 2011 March of Return," "The Palestinian Refugees' Revolution," and, in some cases, "The Third Palestinian Intifada." The number of similar groups, both online and on the ground, multiplied shortly after Facebook, at the request of the Israeli government, shut down one of the earliest Palestinian-based pages calling for the march. In Egypt, the movement is being organized by a coalition of groups, including the seasoned pro-democracy movement Kefaya, a new pro-Palestinian group called Kollana Makawma (or We are All the Resistance) and two contingents of hardcore football enthusiasts, or Ultras. Buses will depart from Cairo's Tahrir Square at noon on 14 May and then meet up with more protesters in Suez. Planners say they hope to reach Gaza by the evening, march on the border crossing, and participate in the marches and protests inside the Palestinian territory scheduled for the following morning. Though many of the logistics of the trip remain unclear, activists say they are not concerned about the feasibility. Besides the march, protests are also scheduled to be held outside the Israeli embassy. Egyptian activists are using the opportunity to push for local demands regarding Israel as well. "Through this initiative, we are calling for the cessation of gas exports to Israel and the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Egyptian jails," explains Salma Shukrallah, an Egyptian and founding member of the Kollana Makawma movement, which is helping spearhead the local campaign. Other demands agreed upon by the coalition of participating Egyptian groups include the permanent reopening of the Rafah border, the normalization of Egypt-Gaza trade relations, and the cancellation of the QIZ (Qualifying Industrial Zones) agreement between Egypt and Israel. First and foremost among their demands, and one shared by all international groups participating in the march, is the "assertion of the right of exiled Palestinians to return to their homeland," as stated on the press statement by the Egyptian coalition. "The former [Egyptian] regime was largely responsible for driving and enforcing the sanctions on Gaza, even when international agreements called on Egypt to keep the Rafah border open," said Halim Heneish, a founding member of the Youth Movement for Justice and Freedom. Heneish believes that after the toppling of the former regime it is now possible to achieve the coalition's goals. Moreover, Heneish insists that the call for the liberation of Gaza will, in a way, help ensure the formation of an Egyptian government that represents Egyptians' concern for and allegiance to the Palestinian people. "The Zionist government," he says, referring to the current Israeli regime, "will never be satisfied with the formation of an Egyptian government that properly, and truthfully, represents the Egyptian people since, by definition, such a government would not be an ally to Israel, or willing to meet its demands." "Israel is the source of the counter-revolution now taking place in Egypt," Heneish said, reiterating his belief that the Israeli government will do whatever it takes to prevent the formation of a regime that reflects Egypt's largely anti-Israel constituents. Meanwhile, plans for the march do not seem to have been affected by the news of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, signed last Tuesday in Cairo. "The Nakba is marked by commemorative events every year, all round the world," Shukrallah said. "Due to the recent revolutions, people expected this year's commemoration to be larger and more effective." In response to suggestions that the march to Gaza might complicate or hamper the reconciliation, which stipulates the formation of a new technocratic government and could potentially lead to the revival of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Shukrallah said, "There's always a reason to criticize or delay initiatives such as [the march]. People have different opinions." "When people voice their demands and put pressure on the ruling powers, it makes a difference when the time comes for political changes," Shukrallah said. "If anything, this march will hasten and assert Palestinian unity." But the success of the 15 May march is far from assured. Activists say they are unsure "whether or not we'll be granted entry into Gaza." Meanwhile, Israel has received news of the march with growing concern. Israel National News, the online version of Arutz Sheva radio, has described the march as an "assault" with the intention of "intimidating and embarrassing Israel." Last year, a flotilla of ships bringing international aid to Gaza was attacked by Israeli commandos, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead. The online news source also reported that in anticipation of the march, Egypt's army has heightened its alert and intensified its forces in areas around the border, reportedly planning to seal off all entries to North and South Sinai. Meanwhile, even some who are sympathetic to the cause question the potential of the 15 May march. "Any gesture against the Israeli entity is a positive thing, but this doesn't seem to be a realistic plan," said Tamim al-Barghouti, a Palestinian-Egyptian poet, during a poetry event at the Journalists Syndicate last month. |
6 | 2011-07-08 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/trouble-zamalek-match-fans-riot-set-seats-fire | Ten Central Security recruits and officers were injured in clashes with football fans on Thursday evening during a match between Zamalek and Wadi Degla at Cairo Stadium that ended in a tie. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); According to Major General Salah al-Sherbiny, assistant interior minister for the Central Security Forces, initial reports said that eight recruits and two officers sustained fractures and bruises from the fighting. Ultras, a network of football supporters whose disenchantment with police has put them on the front line of the revolution, chanted before the clashes, "Tomorrow in Tahrir: revolution and change." The scuffle broke out in the third-tier seats as 400 fans protested against police, as well as referees, who they said were biased against Zamalek, according to security sources. Security officials asked Zamalek Club Director Ibrahim Hassan to calm the public, but a large number of fans refused to listen to him and set seats on fire. The Central Security Forces eventually emptied the stadium and arrested some spectators, after which the military inspected the damage. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
7 | 2011-08-10 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/elbaradei-ultras-spread-message-graffiti-campaign-alexandria | A group of Mohamed ElBaradei supporters calling themselves "ultras" have started a campaign in Alexandria supporting him for the presidency and making use of graffiti slogans in poor neighborhoods. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The ultras have sprayed the slogan "The Dream is Approaching" on the walls of the city and placed his picture next to it. "This is the first time in Egypt that graffiti has been used for campaigning," said Mohamed Farouk, an ultra supporter of ElBaradei. "We use the white, red and black colors, which are the colors of the Egyptian flag." Farouk added that the campaign concentrates on the popular areas and poor quarters of the city. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
8 | 2011-08-10 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/elbaradeis-supporters-use-street-art-highlight-presidential-bid | Supporters of presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei in Alexandria have decided to use graffiti to support his candidacy. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The group calls itself Baradaawy Ultras, an apparent reference to radical football fans, and is touring streets at night to draw pro-ElBaradei graffiti on walls. It started its first campaign in the Mina al-Bassal area, west of Alexandria. The effort was not well-received by residents, some of whom said the group was defacing walls. The group also distributed leaflets to passers-by to explain the objectives of the campaign and list where their upcoming tours will be. Mohamed Farouq, a graffiti artist and member of the campaign, said this is the first time graffiti is being used in a presidential campaign in Egypt. Graffiti is not widespread in Egypt, but it does have enthusiasts, he said. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
9 | 2011-08-11 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/dos-and-donts-pregnancy | "Don't dye your hair, don't wear tight clothes, don't drive, don't leave the house..." are common pieces of advice that pregnant women might hear during their pregnancy. "They are unfounded, and there are even studies proving that these kinds of fears are not rationale," explains the Cairo-based gynecologist, Hussein Gohar. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Aya, is pregnant and she read that cycling or running should be avoided. Gohar explains that some women think that doing any form of exercise is bad for the baby. "On the contrary, doing exercise is good and doesn't increase the risk of miscarriage, it is recommended to do exercise a few weeks before the delivery date. It is good for the baby's weight and height." Batoul is seven months into her pregnancy; she was advised to avoid X-rays and any kind of radiation or electrical gates, just like Mohal and Aya. Again, "This is not founded," asserts Gohar. In fact, those machines emit little radiation and if X-rays are recommended, it's certainly better to have those, to make sure the fetus is healthy. "By the way," Gohar says, "ultrasound machines do not reveal the fetus' soul." Mohal is a future mother, and she was advised to listen to classical music, such as Mozart. "I should start doing it, as it's good for the sense of listening" she says. Same for Aya, "I was told that I should either talk to my baby or make it listen to Mozart, but I don't really have time to do that unfortunately." To this, Gohar replies, "When Mozart's mum was pregnant, she obviously wasn't listening to her son's future compositions, so it won't make your baby more gifted by listening to classical music." The doctor explains that some women fear that wearing tight clothes or sitting cross legged might suffocate the baby by putting the umbilical cord around its neck. "The fetus is getting oxygen through blood and doesn't breathe, so there's no risk of strangling it except during delivery," says Gohar. Pregnant women, like Aya or Batoul, were told by their doctors that fasting was ok during Ramadan as long as they didn't feel dizzy or dehydrated. Both tried; Aya felt fine and so decided to carry on. "I eat bean sandwiches, so they stay in my stomach, and I drink a lot of milk," says Aya. When Batoul tested herself, "I felt thirsty and tired after the first day, so decided not to fast." Gohar insists that it's not ok to fast while pregnant. "The fetus needs to receive proteins and other essential nutriments continuously and not only once per day," he says. It's the same deal during breast feeding, he says. A woman feeding her baby through her blood or milk, should have a diet as healthy as possible to fill the baby's essential needs. Some of Gohar's patients believe that sexual intercourse or wearing high heels might be a cause for miscarriage. "High heels will not lead to miscarriage, but they are a reason for back pain. As regards to sexual intercourse, it's untrue," says Gohar. On the contrary, sex might be more pleasurable because of the change in the woman's body, which might ease the vaginal lubrication. The Cairo-based gynecologist also saw women coming to him asserting that drinking too much water might harm the fetus, as it would increase the water around it. "Yet, the water is actually mainly urine and will not prevent the baby from breathing," explains Gohar. Ahmed Fayed, a Cairo based psychiatrist, explains: "Fears like those might happen during the pregnancy because women are more sensitive due the increase of hormones in their bodies." "Women probably wouldn't believe what people advise them to do during pregnancy, but because of their condition, they believe everything related to their baby." |
10 | 2011-09-07 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/mubarak-trial-updates-tantawi-summoned-testify-court-reconvene-thursday | 6:06 pm: googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The 8th and 9th witnesses will testify Thursday. 5:48 pm: The court acquits the fifth witness, Central Security Forces Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeem Mohamed, of perjury charges. 5:40 pm: The court has decided to summon Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to testify in a secret session on Sunday. Also to be summoned are: Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Anan on Monday, former Intelligence Director Omar Suleiman on Tuesday, Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy on Wednesday and former Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy on Thursday. The judge has imposed a gag order on media outlets and forbidden coverage of all sessions from Sunday to Thursday. 5:38 pm: Live broadcasts on state TV show an ambulance carrying Mubarak from the academy. 5:30 pm: Plaintiffs' lawyer Sameh Ashour, a former head of the Lawyers' Syndicate, told Al Jazeera that the plaintiffs' lawyers don't trust the witnesses since six of them come from the police. It's clear that their testimonies are made up, said Ashour, adding that the plaintiffs' lawyers will file a request to hold the first witness in custody on grounds of perjury. The first witness, General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Moussa, head of communications for Central Security Forces, told the court that Adly didn't order the shooting protesters. This testimony contradicts with what Moussa claimed previously when investigated by prosecutors. 5:00 pm: Some of the plaintiffs' lawyers are demanding to reinvestigate the whole case and add high treason to Mubarak's criminal charges. 4:24 pm: Martyrs' families outside the Police Academy have expressed deep dissatisfaction over the witnesses' testimonies, which undermine the case against Mubarak and Adly. Mohamed Abdel Fatah, who said his son died by a bullet on 29 January, accused the witnesses of telling lies. He told Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent that he believes their testimonies were fabricated to favor Mubarak and Adly. 3:53 pm: Gameel Said, Ramzy's lawyer, was beaten by anti-Mubarak protesters outside the Police Academy, Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent reports. 3:48 pm: State TV reports that the seventh witness, former Police Major Tarek Abdel Moneim, told the court that he could not identify who exactly shot him when he was wounded by a pellet. Moneim also said he saw a man named Mostafa al-Sawy, who got injured in the face. Later on, he found out Sawy had died. He said he saw policemen carrying shields, sticks, guns, which were used to deploy tear gas bombs as well as pellets and rubber bullets. However, he did not see policemen armed with live ammunition weapons, Moneim said. 3:47 pm: The court is in recess. Most of the martyrs' families who were protesting outside the Police Academy have left, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent. Hassan Abu Aleneen, a plaintiff's lawyer, said that he believes today's session will end within 30 minutes, the correspondent says. 3:22 pm: State TV reports that the seventh witness, Tarek Abdel Moneim - a former police officer who joined protesters on 28 January - has told the court that he got injured by a pellet during the revolution. He affirmed that other protesters were wounded while walking by his side on 28 January. 3:20 pm: Prominent journalist and TV host Wael al-Ebrashy, who is attending the trial, told reporters that he believes the witnesses were pressured to undermine the prosecution. According to Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent, Ebrashy said that holding the fifth witness in custody for perjury represents a warning to all witnesses. 3:18 pm: State TV reports that the defendants' lawyers asked the court to hold the first witness in custody on grounds of perjury. The first witness, General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Moussa - the head of the Central Security Forces (CSF) communications - on Monday told the court he heard Ahmed Ramzy, the head of CSF and one of Adly's aides on trial, saying there would be attacks on police stations and the Interior Ministry headquarters. Moussa said Ramzy then decided unilaterally to arm policemen with automatic weapons and live ammunition. 3:12 pm: The seventh witness, Tarek Abdel Moneim, a former police officer who joined protesters on 28 January, testifies. 3:10 pm: Al Jazeera earlier spoke with a Mubarak supporter who denied that Mubarak and others on trial are responsible for killing the protesters. As shown in this video, the woman, raising Mubarak's picture and standing outside the courthouse, told the reporter: "It is Iran, Hizbullah, Palestine, Qatar and some Iraqi Shia who killed protesters." "Mubarak, his sons, [the former] interior minister and generals are innocent," she added. 3:03 pm: Security is being tightened outside the court, state TV reports. 2:46 pm: The sixth witness, Police Sergeant Abdel Hameed Rashed Abul Yazeed, begins his testimony. 2:40 pm: The session resumes. 2:10 pm: Here's a summary of reactions over the fifth witness, Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeen Mohamed of Egypt's Central Security Forces. The most serious challenge for the defendants' lawyers so far has come after Judge Refaat decided to hold Mohamed in custody. Plaintiffs' lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that the captain changed his testimony, and accused him of perjury. During his testimony, Mohamed denied the use of live ammunition against protesters. But in March, he told prosecutors that Central Security Forces were supplied with live ammunition. So far, only one witness, General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Moussa, head of communications for Central Security Forces, has testified against any of the accused. Moussa said Ahmed Ramzy, former assistant minister for the Central Security Forces, ordered the supply of the Central Security Forces with live ammunition. Nabil Medahat Salim, Ramzy's lawyer, told Al Jazeera that the first witness's testimony doesn't pose a challenge for Ramzy, because the witness didn't realize any orders to supply forces with automatic weapons and only heard it over a handheld radio. All the witnesses so far are various ranking police officers who belong to the same department in the Central Security Forces. Meanwhile, one of the lawyers has demanded that General Mohsen al-Fangary, assistant defense minister, be summoned to testify about the killing of protesters. 1:55 pm: The court is in recess. 1:44 pm: Judge decides to hold the fifth witness in custody on grounds of perjury. 1:30 pm: Prosecutors accuse the fifth witness of perjury. 1:21 pm: Prosecutors demand that the fifth witness be prosecuted on grounds of recanting his original testimony. Meanwhile, 20 young men rally outside the Police Academy and insult police. The police remain self-restrained. Military officers intervene to calm protesters down. 1:00 pm: Here's a wrap-up of the testimony of the fifth witness, Central Security Forces Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeem Mohamed. Like the other prosecution witnesses, he denies the use of live ammunition during the revolution. He only learned about the shooting of protesters from TV, he says. State TV reports that Judge Refaat asked Mohamed, "What were you assigned to do between 25 and 28 January?" Mohamed replied, saying that between 25 and 27 January, he was stationed in the Central Security Forces camp. On the 28th, he was sent out with the first brigade. "What kind of arms did you carry?" Refaat asked. He said soldiers and officers were armed with sticks, shields, tear gas bombs and pistols loaded with pellets. He denied that Central Security Forces were armed with live ammunition. The judge said, "Some victims were shot with live ammunition, who you think had shot them?" He replied saying, "I do not know." He added that Central Security Forces officers are usually prohibited from carrying any machine guns or their personal pistols - which normally are loaded with live bullets - when they are sent out to demonstrations. 12:55 pm: Mubarak's main lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, leaves the courtroom, state TV reports. 12:50 pm: The plaintiffs' lawyers reject the participation of Kuwaiti lawyers in Mubarak's defense team. 12:45 pm: State TV reports that plaintiffs' lawyers agreed that Sameh Ashour, a former head of the Lawyers' Syndicate, will represent them during the current session. 12:30 pm: A woman who supported Mubarak went to the anti-Mubarak protesters and tried to defend the former president, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent outside the Police Academy. The move lead to clashes between the two sides, but the atmosphere is calm now. 12:29 pm: The fifth witness, Central Security Forces Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeem Mohamed, begins his testimony. 12:20 pm: The courtroom is calm after plaintiffs' lawyers reached an agreement about their demands, state TV reports. Meanwhile, Mubarak's supporters - around 10 people - leave the Police Academy area through a back door. Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent says they were guarded by police. 12:12 pm: State TV says that the plaintiffs' lawyers who withdrew from the hearings earlier returned back. Prior to the recess, they demanded a 15-minute break to coordinate among themselves. 12:06 pm: The session resumes. 12:02 pm: Around 10 Mubarak supporters have arrived at the Police Academy, Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent reports. Anti-Mubarak protesters approached them and started chanting anti-Mubarak slogans. 11:55 am: Journalist Farah Saafan tweets that police are sexually harassing anti-Mubarak female protesters. 11:50 am: The pro-Mubarak Facebook page "I'm Sorry Mr. President" expresses deep anger after one of the plaintiffs' lawyers insulted Mubarak during the hearings. The page administrator said that insulting the former president is "the worst incident in the history of the Egyptian judiciary." 11:48 am: Al Jazeera reports that the plaintiffs' lawyers demand that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf be summoned to testify about allegedly smuggled money. 11:40 am: Anti-Mubarak protesters are chanting against Egypt's military rulers outside the Police Academy, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent there, saying "Expose your chest for bullets, we are calling for retribution," and "Oh, mean Tantawi, the blood of martyrs is not cheap," among other slogans. 11:38 am: Judge Refaat orders a three-minute court recess, which is the first during this session. 11:32 am: Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent inside the courtroom confirms earlier reports that one of the plaintiffs' lawyers insulted Mubarak during the hearings. 11:17 am: In Wednesday's session, three witnesses from Egypt's are due to testify before the court - Central Security Forces Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeem Mohamed, Police Sergeant Abdel Hameed Rashed Abul Yazeed and former Police Major Tarek Abdel Moneim. Moneim has previously told the prosecutors that a police general and 15 of his aides broke into the building of the American University in Cairo, facing Tahrir Square, and opened fire against protesters from inside. 11:14 am: Al Jazeera's Mubashir Misr channel reports that Sameh Ashour, a former head of the bar association, and some of the lawyers representing victims' families have withdrawn from the hearings in objection to "chaotic" conditions inside the courtroom. 11:10 am: State TV reports that one of the plaintiff's lawyers insulted Mubarak during the hearings. 11:00 am: State TV says that the plaintiffs' lawyers demanded that Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and former First Lady Suzanne Mubarak be summoned to court to give their testimonies. Meanwhile, Mohamed Zahran, a relative of one of the protesters killed during the revolution, shouts at the anti-Mubarak protesters, demanding that they stop cursing and chanting anti-police slogans. "The media are deploying such acts to ridicule our cause and provide a legitimate pretext for the police to crackdown on us," Zahran told Al-Masry Al-Youm outside the courtroom. State TV airs live footage from outside the courtroom with protesters raising banners that depict Mubarak's head surrounded by gallows. The banners read: "Put the serial killer on trial." 10:55 am: Al-Arabiya channel, quoting a source inside the courtroom, reports that Judge Ahmed Refaat refused to enter the courtroom because of lawyers chanting anti-Mubarak slogans in the courtroom. 10:52 am: State TV says the plaintiffs' lawyers are telling the court their demands. 10:40 am: A group of Ultras Ahlawy are playing with firecrackers and chanting anti-Mubarak slogans. Clashes erupted between the ardent football fans and security forces outside the Police Academy. No casualties have been reported so far. 10:30 am: Egypt's flagship paper Al-Ahram reported today that the Interior Ministry has decided to tighten its security measures around Gate 8 of the Police Academy. 10:29 am: State TV reports that five Kuwaiti lawyers are being seen inside the courthouse. 10:26 am: State TV reports that the trial has started. 10:28 am: Verbal clashes erupted in the courtroom between the defendants' lawyers and members of martyrs' families. Judge Ahmed Refaat, according to state TV, refused to enter the courtroom unless lawyers of both sides keep quiet. 10:00 am: Images from state TV show an ambulance carrying Mubarak stopping outside the courtroom, guarded by armed and masked army officers. Mubarak entered a room in the academy and a hospital bed was brought outside the room. Mubarak is seen laying on the bed and wearing a blue Lacoste tracksuit (according to Egyptian law, defendants on trial must be dressed in white). 9:55 am: A plane carrying Mubarak arrives at the Police Academy from the International Medical Center, where the former president is being hospitalized. 9:25 am: Some people are starting to gather around the Police Academy. Eyewitnesses said they are mainly anti-Mubarak protesters; their numbers are much fewer than the previous sessions. Rumors are circulating that a number of ardent football fans, known as the Ultras, may join the crowd to protest what they perceived as police brutality against their members on Tuesday night when Central Security forces chased Ahly fans outside the Cairo Stadium premises after they chanted slogans against Mubarak and Adly. 8:15 am: A team of five Kuwaiti lawyers, who previously announced that they will join the defense team of the ousted president, is being kept in a room close to the courtroom. No information is provided as to whether they will be allowed to enter the courtroom or not. 8:00 am: State TV reports that former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and his six aides, along with Mubarak's sons, arrived at the Police Academy. 7:00 am: Trial of former President Hosni Mubarak is to convene for its fourth session Wednesday morning. Summary of the 5 September session: Four policemen took the stand Monday to supposedly testify against Mubarak and his top security officials. However, their testimonies fell short of proving that Mubarak and his notorious former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly did not order the use of weapons against protesters. The first witness General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Moussa, head of communications for Central Security Forces, said Ahmed Ramzy, former assistant minister for the Central Security Forces, was responsible for the order to arm Central Security Forces with automatic guns. The courtroom became chaotic after a pro-Mubarak lawyer raised the former president's photo, a move that infuriated the lawyers of the plaintiffs and members of the martyrs' families. Outside the court, scores of people were injured in clashes between Mubarak's supporters and anti-Mubarak protesters. |
11 | 2011-09-08 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/mubarak-trial-updates-adly-implicated-mubaraks-fate-be-determined-sunday | Wrap-up of Thursday's session: googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); On Thursday, the fifth session of Mubarak's trial saw witnesses accuse the former minister of interior of ordering the shooting of protesters. Police Commander Essam Shawky, the eighth witness, told Judge Ahmed Refaat that Adly ordered to quell the anti-government protests this year by 'any means,' state television reported. Shawky, who served in the anti-riot police during the popular uprising against Mubarak, presented to the court a CD that he said contained scenes showing police firing on demonstrators. The ninth witness, Police General Hassan Abdel Hameed, confirmed Shawky's testimony. He told the court that he attended a meeting on 27 January in which Adly ordered implementation of "Plan 100," a secret plan whereby police would deter protestors from reaching Tahrir Square by any and all means. "[The eighth witness] has dropped a bombshell," said Mohamed Zarea, a lawyer representing 500 injured and martyrs, arguing that his testimony proves that Adly was involved in the killing of protesters. Zarea told Al-Masry Al-Youm in a phone interview that Shawky's testimony proves that Adly instigated "all illegal practices that occurred during the revolution," added Zarea. "By the same token, Mubarak, who authorized Adly to crush the demonstrations, should be held responsible for what happened," said Zarea. In the session, Adly's lawyer attempted to undermine the credibility of prosecution witness General Abdel Hameed, saying he has documentation of a dispute between Adly and Hameed. In the following session, scheduled for Sunday, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi is due to testify in a closed session. "The appearance of Tantawi, Anan, Soliman, a former interior minister and the incumbent minister proves that it is a serious trial and not a play," said Zarea who added that "The testimonies of Tantawi will be critical." On May, Tantawi said during the graduation ceremony at the Police Academy that the Armed Forces had refused to open fire on protesters. If Tantawi tells the court that he was asked to mobilize the armed forces to crush the protests," this will imply that that the same request was addressed to the Interior Ministry earlier," Zarea added. "I think [Tantawi's] testimony will prove that Mubarak was involved and aware of the killing of protesters," he added. 4:42 pm: State TV broadcasts Mubarak being wheeled out of Police Academy on his gurney. 4:38 pm: Court adjourns until Sunday. 3:56 pm: Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly's lawyer attempts to undermine the credibility of prosecution witness General Hassan Abdel Hameed, saying he has documentation of a dispute between Adly and Hameed, according to state TV. 3:48 pm: Court is in recess. 2:41 pm: A group of people are chanting against the police outside the academy while whacking a poster of Mubarak with their shoes, Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent reports. 2:40 pm: Al Jazeera reports Abdel Hameed as saying "Plan 100" includes shooting at protesters and securing Gamal Mubarak's transportation despite the earlier state TV report that he knows nothing about the plan. 2:28 pm: State TV quotes Abdel Hameed, the ninth witness, as saying "'Plan 100' is a secret plan for Central Security Forces and I don't know it." 2:20 pm: More than 10 Facebook pages have cropped up saluting Police Commander Essam Shawky, who testified today saying that Adly ordered protesters killed. 2:05 pm: More security forces are arriving outside the court, according to Al-Masry Al Youm's correspondent. 2:00 pm: General Hassan Abdel Hameed tells the court that, during a meeting with top police officials on 27 January at 1:30 pm, Adly discussed "Plan 100." Hameed says the plan authorized police to block Tahrir Square entrances and use any means to prevent protester numbers from reaching 1 million. Abdel Hameed says that Ahmed Ramzy, former assistant minister for Central Security Forces, said at the time that his forces could apply something stricter than "Plan 100." Abdel Hameed claims he objected to the plan, and Adly responded by transferring him to another post to "learn how to disperse protesters." Abdel Hameed also testifies Adly told his aides during the meeting that he would order internet and phone service cut. 1:30 pm: Police Commander Essam Shawky, the prosecution's eighth witness, has informed the court that General Hassan Abdel Hameed attended a meeting at the Ministry of Interior with Adly and his aides on 27 January. Shawky said Abdel Hameed, who is testifying before the court, told him that Adly ordered his aides to use any means necessary to disperse protesters, state TV reports. 1:13 pm: Head Judge Ahmed Refaat listens to the prosecution's ninth witness General Hameed. 1:10 pm: When asked if he had a comment about Police Commander Essam Shawky's testimony, Mubarak told the judge that he has no comment. Adly told the judge that the testimony was completely incorrect, state TV reports. 1:07 pm: The trial reconvened a few minutes ago, state TV reports. 1:00 pm: Anti-Mubarak protesters burn his photo while chanting "Allah Akbar" (God is great). 12:30 pm: Protesters outside the Police Academy are chanting against Egypt's military rulers, Mubarak and Adly. 12:17 pm: State TV reports court in recess. 11:15 am: Police Commander Essam Shawky: I warned the public prosecutor to seize all Central Security Forces records before they could be damaged. 11:12 am: Adly ordered internet and the phone service cut, according to Shawky. 11:08 am: Shawky: Adly ordered police officers to support Central Security Forces and ordered them armed with automatic weapons. He also gave orders to hide police vehicles inside the Police Academy. 10:52 am: Shawky says he told the public prosecutor during questioning that former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and his aides ordered the killing of protesters. He also says Adly ordered protesters dispersed by any means. 10:45 am: Head Judge Ahmed Refaat calls the prosecution's eighth witness, Police Commander Essam Shawky, to the stand. 10:40 am: State TV reports that the trial has started. 10:13 am: A small group of martyrs' relatives are outside the Police Academy. Pro-Mubarak protesters have not yet appeared, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm's correspondent. "It's obvious. They are playing with the people. The prosecution witnesses changed their testimonies. This is a charade," Abdel Karim Ibrahim, whose brother Moustafa Ibrahim was on 28 January, told Al-Masry Al-Youm. 10:08 am: State TV broadcasts footage of the ambulance carrying Mubarak arriving outside the Police Academy guarded by armed and masked army officers. A hospital bed is brought to a room where the former president is waiting to take him into the courtroom. 9:55 am: A plane carrying Mubarak arrives at the Police Academy from the International Medical Center, where the former president is being hospitalized between court sessions. 9:25 am: A small crowd is gathering outside the Police Academy. Eyewitnesses say they are mainly anti-Mubarak protesters; their numbers are much smaller than during previous sessions. Rumors are circulating that a number of ardent football fans, known as the Ahlawy Ultras, may join the crowd to protest what they perceive as police brutality. Central Security forces chased Ahly fans outside the Cairo Stadium for chanting slogans against Mubarak and Adly during a match Tuesday. 8:15 am: State TV reports that former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and his six aides, along with Mubarak's sons, have arrived at the Police Academy. 7:00 am: The fifth session of the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak convenes Thursday morning. Summary of the fourth session, Wednesday 7 September: The court agreed to summon Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years and now leader of ruling military council, to testify on 11 September. Judge Ahmed Refaat also summoned other top officials including Armed Forces Chief of Staff Samy Anan, former Intelligence Chief and, briefly, Vice President Omar Suleiman and Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy. Police witnesses called by the prosecution this week have suggested that neither Mubarak nor his former Interior Minister, Habib al-Adly, gave security forces orders to shoot protesters. Two witnesses said they were told to show "self restraint." |
12 | 2011-09-08 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/thursday-papers-anxiety-over-mubaraks-trial-farmers-reject-scaf-celebration | News about the ongoing trial of toppled President Hosni Mubarak, his sons, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, and six of his aides continues to dominate the front pages of most newspapers, with the top story being Judge Ahmed Refaat's decision to summon Egypt's current leaders to testify. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The court decided Monday to summon Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Armed Forces Chief of Staff Samy Anan, former Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy and former Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy to testify next week in closed sessions. State-run Al-Akhbar leads with the sensational headline "Field Marshall confronts Mubarak in a secret session on Sunday." News about the fifth witness, Central Security Forces Captain Mohamed Abdel Hakeem Mohamed, being charged with perjury after he changed his testimony in favor of Mubarak is also stirring debate. Even though the court acquitted Mohamed before the end of the session, analysts see this as a warning to other witnesses. In his editorial in private daily Al-Tahrir, Ibrahim Eissa writes about the weak evidence and documents collected against Mubarak, and leads with the headline "Statements that say nothing." Eissa argues that amid the revolutionary fervor, public pressure on the prosecutor's office brought Mubarak to court without solid evidence. The process of investigation and evidence collection was chaotic, argues Eissa, citing the refusal of police forces to cooperate with the prosecutor, the destruction of documents on State Security premises, and former Presidential Chief of Staff Zakariya Azmy's alleged destruction of documents at the presidential palace for weeks after Mubarak stepped. The leftist party paper Al-Wafd runs the headline "The end of the January revolution: Mubarak's acquittal ... Al-Adly rules the Interior Ministry ... And preparations for rigging the election" on its front page, citing the increased security around the courtroom outside the Police Academy and the way the defendants are treated. Al-Tahrir also cites statements by some officers responsible for securing the courtroom praising Mubarak and Adly. Some reportedly told martyrs' families outside the academy that the defendants would be acquitted for lack of evidence. In response to the planned Friday protests to get the revolution back on track, the state-run Al-Ahram runs a short piece about the SCAF's statement on Wednesday warning protesters against damaging public or military property and assigning the protest's organizers the responsibility for securing the demonstration. Most privately owned newspapers comment on the SCAF's decision to celebrate Farmers Day on Friday at the Cairo Stadium to coincide with the Tahrir protests. The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to host at least 50,000 farmers from various Egyptian governorates at the stadium, writes privately owned Al-Shorouk. The general farmers union established after the January protests with about half a million members has, however, refused to take part in the celebrations. Syndicate head Mohamed Abdel Kader announced that farmers would instead march from the Ministry of Agriculture in Dokki to Tahrir Square where they would plant a tree in tribute to the martyrs of the revolution, writes Al-Shorouk. Al-Shorouk also runs a special report on the conditions of Egyptian peasants and the main expectations farmers have for their new union, which include providing a social security system and health care, reforming the fertilizers market, providing access to local markets without intermediaries, and establishing complementary industries. Regarding the government's recent interest in celebrating farmers, Wael Kandil writes in his column that the timing is ironic and it is surprising how "love can happen suddenly just like death." Regarding the punishment of Ahlawy Ultras following unrest at Tuesday's match, Ahmed al-Sawy writes in his Al-Shorouk column that it remains unclear why security forces show such courage and competency in dealing with political protests and violence, yet crime prevails on the street and police officers do not even dare to file a ticket against drivers that double park. Minister of Interior Mansour al-Essawy, however, speaks of the competency of police forces in an exclusive interview with Al-Wafd. And asked about the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, Essawy describes them as the easiest in Egypt's history, assuring the public that there will be no problems in the voting process. As the debate over the supra-constitutional principles continues, the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement titled "The Critical Stage the Revolution is Going Through" on Wednesday demanding that SCAF to "respect" the results of the March referendum, writes the privately owned Youm7. Egypt's papers: Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party Youm7: Daily, privately owned Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party |
13 | 2011-09-09 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/anti-military-rally-tahrir-swells-tens-thousands-more-march-around-cairo | Around 30,000 protesters gathered in Tahrir Square Friday to protest the ruling military council's performance and their numbers continued to rise into the late afternoon for the demonstration dubbed "Correcting the Path of the Revolution." googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Some of those present since midday prayers were discouraged that turnout was lower than organizers had hoped for, however the crowd was steadily swelling and was expected to reach 50,000 before the demonstration's scheduled 6 pm end time. "It is the first Friday after Ramadan, and summertime. I believe that the number will increase in the coming demonstrations," said political activist and blogger Ahmed Gharbeia. Several marches feeding into Tahrir from around Cairo have been adding a steady stream of protesters. One group came from the Israeli Embassy in Dokki, while the April 6 Youth Movement also came from Mohandiseen with at least 500 supporters. Islamist groups were, as expected, not present in the square. April 6, secular revolutionary groups, as well as the football fans known as Ahly and Zamalek "Ultras" led most of the chants. The Ultras, who have been active in many demonstrations throughout the revolution, came in the wake of clashes at an Ahly soccer game, where 90 fans were arrested. Around 200 Ultras marched to the Ministry of Interior to protest the arrests, demand police reform and chant against former Minister Habib al-Adly. Adly is facing trial, along with former President Hosni Mubarak, on charges of killing protesters during the revolution. "The Interior Ministry before the revolution is the same as after the revolution in how it treats us soccer supporters," said Qadry Adel, 21. Members of the Independent Farmers' Union also participated in the protest, despite a government-planned celebration of Farmers' Day occurring at the Cairo Stadium and attended by the heads of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. "We are protesting corruption in the Ministry of Agriculture and calling for regulations to make Egypt agriculturally independent," said the secretary general of the union's Giza branch, Misbah Asaker. Around 100 members of the Farmers Union assembled in Tahrir after protesting at the Agriculture Ministry. Asaker claims that farmers who went to the SCAF celebration were paid LE50 and provided with food and transportation. In the square, protesters loudly voiced anger over the continued practice of trying civilians in military courts. "We are here today to raise awareness as to the sheer breadth of military trials around the country and to pressure the SCAF to stop the military trials," said Director of the No to Military Trials group Mona Seif. The group claims that more than 12,000 civilians have been tried in military courts since March. "Military trials are an infringement on the right of Egyptians, and must end immediately," said legal activist and former MP Gamal Zahran, speaking from Tahrir's main stage. Many of the demonstrators focused their anger on the continued state of lawlessness in the country that many of them see as a deliberate attempt by counter-revolutionary forces to promote instability. "The Egyptian Army is great and, along with the Ministry of Interior, could put an end to any gang of thugs if they want to. They are letting them be to keep us living in a state of fear," said director Khaled Yousef. Many in the square also called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to revisit the newly devised laws regarding parliamentary elections. "The new laws open the doors for material politics to dominate, just as it did before the revolution," said political analyst Ammar Ali Hassan while in the square Friday. Demonstrators are gearing up for a march to the Judges' Club at 5 pm to call for fair elections, fair trials for former regime officials, the abolition of military trials and repatriating funds allegedly stolen by corrupt public officials. Around 100 people were also headed to the Israeli Embassy to resume protests that began there last month following an Israeli border raid that killed five Egyptian security and police officers. |
14 | 2011-09-09 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/hundreds-football-fans-gather-interior-ministry-chant-against-adly | Hundreds of Ahly and Zamalek football fans marched from Tahrir Square to the Interior Minsitry headquarters during a larger protest Friday to call for police reforms and an end to human rights violations. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Police officers closed the ministry's gates as the Ahlawy Ultras and White Knights chanted against former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, who is currently standing trial for killing protesters during the revolution. When one of the protesters hurled an empty bottle at the building, other protesters interfered to stop him, chanting, "Our revolution is peaceful, our revolution is peaceful." Translated from the Arabic Edition |
15 | 2011-09-10 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/ahly-fans-referred-trial-following-riots | Egypt's Public Prosecutor decided on Saturday to refer nine Ahly Football Club fans for speedy trials on 14 September, and to refer seven others to the Specialized Child Prosecution due to their youth. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the defendants were charged with assaulting police officers, destroying public and private property, terrorizing people and disturbing public security. They were arrested during riots that followed a football match between the Ahly and Aswan Clubs at Cairo Stadium on Tuesday night. News reports said the clashes began after some diehard Ahly fans, known as the Ultras, attacked central security forces and chanted slogans against former President Hosni Mubarak and the Ministry of Interior. According to the prosecution, the clashes left 10 police cars, three trucks and two motorcycles belonging to the Traffic Department destroyed by fire. It also resulted in the injury of 88 people, including five police officers and several central security conscripts. Dozens of Ahly fans demonstrated Friday outside the headquarters of the Interior Ministry downtown demanding the release of the detained Ultras. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
16 | 2011-09-11 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/rights-council-accuses-police-collective-punishment-against-ahly-football-fans | The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) is to issue a report by its fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the clashes that took place between the police and Ahly Club football fans, who call themselves "the ultras", at a match played last week. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Sources claim the report may conclude that the police to have applied "collective punishment" against the ultras, and should have shown more retraint. Victims of the clashes told committee representatives, who visited them in the hospital, that the police had no justification for assaulting them. The sources also said the council has tasked the committee with investigating the incidents that took place outside the Israeli Embassy on Friday, in which three people were killed and more than 1000 others were injured. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
17 | 2011-09-13 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/riots-and-politics-mutual-salvation | The scenes of violence and street fighting between the police and the Ahli Football Club fan group Ultras Ahlawy outside Cairo Stadium undoubtedly brings into focus the power of riots as a vital tool to continue the revolution and maintain the absence of stability, which is a key inspiration of the revolution. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Despite the panic it has caused, this state of instability that Egypt has been experiencing over the past few months, including riots, banditry, attacks on facilities and the general lawlessness, is the only way to establish political emancipation from the oppressive state of emergency, which was desperately maintained by the autocratic regimes of the past decades. At its onset, the revolution challenged the police force in a decisive manner and successfully amputated its arms, paralyzing its ability to pursue its main job of managing the relationship between different social classes and religious communities, in other words, between everyone and everyone else. Yet, the prevailing security mentality stands in the way of any political or social negotiations between various sectors of society and prevents the growth of political movements and corresponding debates with the social forces they represent. This security apparatus also aborts any organizational attempts and deprives everyone of all chances of representation by keeping the vast majority of Egyptians out of any reasonable civil negotiation process, in other words, maintaining a stable state of emergency. The revolution started with the aim of defeating the security apparatus' ability to maintain this stable state of emergency. In spite of the peacefulness of the revolution when compared to the magnitude of social contradictions, and in spite of successive setbacks to the revolutionary forces, the lack of security and riots of every type have continued uninterrupted. The rioters are reclaiming politics from the tyrants and won't compromise themselves. Since it took office, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) attempted to bring an end to the continuous rioting, beginning with a law that criminalizes strikes and sit-ins and ending with the cabinet's statement on 7 September, in which it announced the amendment of the Emergency Law, expanding the powers by which the authorities might face the revolutionary chaos, incitement and rioting. There is no doubt that there have been repeated attempts to form a possible alliance between the SCAF and the Islamist movements, headed by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), in the face of these continuous riots. However, this supposed alliance has failed to control an uncontrollable situation. Moreover, there is serious doubt regarding the power of Islamist movements, in terms of rallying crowds, organized action and political decisiveness, to control a society full of contradictions; a society which has become almost impossible to control by oppression. By this, I am not talking about the events in Tahrir Square, but rather about the state of instability and continuous rioting in every institution and neighborhood, as well as the continuous friction between police and angry rallies, including the Ultras and thugs. I am also talking about the strikes that have not stopped, despite numerous threats. Hence, there is a dire need to create a political atmosphere capable of dealing more flexibly with the chaotic situation, as well as creating negotiation channels and political possibilities to deal with the contradictions and the impasse. The ruling authorities, as well as some tyrannical powers, such as the remnants of the former regime, are undoubtedly attempting to counteract the development of such a political atmosphere or its recognition as a legitimate atmosphere for action and negotiation. The upcoming elections may very well be an attempt to kill and bury the revolution. The question now is whether the next parliament will produce a legitimate government capable of controlling the situation? Have the armed forces, which enjoy a quasi-revolutionary legitimacy and the legitimacy to rule the country following the March referendum, succeeded in controlling the situation? The current situation is undoubtedly the result of the inherited tyranny and state of emergency, as well as the magnitude of social contradictions, together with the collapse of the police force's power and legitimacy. Creating a political atmosphere in which negotiation can thrive is the only reasonable choice, despite the resistance from the SCAF and other tyrannical forces and the continued insistence on disciplinary action. Creating a political atmosphere should be the number one priority on the agendas of democratic movements, because it's the only plausible revolutionary path to walk along. These movements must utilize all of their political abilities to prepare for the upcoming elections in order to win the long and continuous political battle ahead. They must also move to counteract the security authority's disciplinary actions, legitimize politics, act against the logic of emergency laws and lead the way to a democratic transition. |
18 | 2011-09-15 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/thursdays-papers-state-paper-runs-special-report-central-security | Details of the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and others on charges related to killing revolution protesters fill some of today's papers, despite the military council-imposed publishing ban. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); During Wednesday's court session, current Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy gave evidence in his capacity as a security expert. Leftist party paper Al-Wafd says that Essawy answered more than 70 questions from defense and victims' lawyers, responding to half of them by saying, "I don't know." For the first time since the start of the trial, Mubarak commented on witness testimony, according to Al-Wafd, defending himself for two minutes "in a clear and audible voice that bore no trace of his illness." The paper also reports that Adly commented for 15 minutes on his successor's testimony. The closure of Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr's Cairo office last week is revived by Information Minister Osama Heikal's claim that the issue "has been blown out of proportion" and that the raid "has nothing to do with the station's content." State-run daily Al-Ahram quotes Heikal as saying that the recent decision to revive enforcement of the Emergency Law was a response to the breach of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo last Friday. Al-Gomhurriya ruminates on which electoral system Egypt should use for upcoming parliamentary elections, and declares that a mixed system is a "golden opportunity for remnants of the regime and gangs" and that a "list system is dogged by unconstitutionality." The state-run daily also runs a three-page special report on Egypt's Central Security Forces (CSF), or riot police, the body formed in 1969 that Mubarak routinely relied on to quash dissent. Most CSF soldiers come from Egypt's poorest areas and many are illiterate, according to the paper. Former Interior Minister Saad al-Gamal said the CSF "forgot their real role of protecting citizens and stood in the way of demands on behalf of a regime that ran away from a true confrontation of its citizens' problems." In a one-page interview, Assistant Interior Minister for CSF General Salah al-Sherbiny - who was second-in-command during the revolution - maintained that Central Security serves the people despite the interviewer's insistent questioning about protester deaths at the agency's hands. While suggesting that the former regime made "five main mistakes" that led to the revolution, Sherbiny rejected the journalist's description of CSF as "the National Democratic Party's armed militia." "Interior Ministry senior figures have killed CSF soldiers psychologically a thousand times," the special report declares. Ibrahim Eid, a professor of mental health at Ain Shams University, says that training given to CSF troops has damaged them psychologically. This, he says, caused the contradictions inherent in receiving orders to hit, drag and sometimes even kill fellow citizens. Men serving in the CSF provided descriptions of their lives and roles in the force. One soldier was unable to define what an embassy was, other than a place where visas are issued, and which he has to guard. Another soldier says that if ordered by his commander to use live ammunition against protesters, he would, because his commander understands more and is able to gauge the situation better than he is. Seven possible presidential candidates held a "secret" meeting on Wednesday at the invitation of some revolutionary youth. Privately owned Al-Shorouk reports that during the meeting the men discussed a roadmap for the remainder of the coming months, including a demand for a transition of power from the military to civilians before the first anniversary of the revolution. Privately-owned Al-Dostour reports on the National Council for Human Rights' seemingly vague inquiry into the breach of the Israeli Embassy last week. The committee, whose members include politician Amr Hamzawy, concluded that members of the Ultras Ahlawy (hardcore football fans) were involved in an "unjustified attack on the Interior Ministry building" and that "infiltrating elements led by unknown persons are instigating incidents in order to bring down the revolution and the state's authority." Egypt's papers: Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party Youm7: Daily, privately owned Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party |
19 | 2011-10-06 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/hundreds-march-tahrir-square-demand-handover-civilian-rule | Hundreds of protesters, including Ahly Club Ultras, staged a march from Sayyeda Aisha Square to Tahrir Square on Wednesday night, demanding a swift handover to civilian rule, as called for by various political parties and movements. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The "Second Friday of Anger" and "Rise Up Egypt, the Egyptian Is Hungry" fan pages on Facebook called for the march to demand a quick handover of power to an elected civilian government and president. The April 6 Youth Movement and the Democratic Front Party announced they would participate in the protest. After arriving in Tahrir Square, the protesters continued their march downtown, passing by the Central Bank of Egypt and returning to the square again. They chanted "Oh, Minister Essam, we are back to Tahrir," "Tantawi is Mubarak," and "Oh, Tantawi, say the truth. You are a false witness." The Ahly Ultras repeated their songs and slogans. Passersby welcomed protesters with victory signs and applause once they reached Tahrir, while drivers greeted them by honking their horns. Some car drivers stressed they would participate in next Friday's protest in Tahrir Square dubbed "Go Back to Your Barracks." The protests come amidst mounting political unrest in the wake of the ruling military council's renewal and expansion of the Emergency Law, pressure on free media and the trial of civilians in military courts. Translated from the Arabic Edition |
20 | 2011-11-11 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/uncompromising-fate-minas-death | What is so significant about the horrid death of Mina Daniel? What distinguishes him from previous martyrs Khaled Saeed or Sayed Bilal? Shouldn't this strange succession of names reveal something about the recent history of the Egyptian security apparatus and open up the possibility of reforming it to public debate? Despite the short period of time between these successive deaths, each name tells a different story about security's "monstrosity" and "failures." Each name has played a particular role in dismantling the legitimacy of the Egyptian security apparatus and will continue to be important in any discussion concerning its reform or complete restructuring. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); These narratives of martyrdom allow us to glimpse into how the security apparatus had operated over the last thirty years and how it was capable of establishing some form of legitimacy for its actions. Each name has dealt a blow to the legitimacy of the security apparatus in its own right. The figure of Mina Daniel has the potential to accomplish two things. One is to uncompromisingly tie the Egyptian public to the slogan, "Bread, Freedom and Social Justice"- a reversal of all the values, ways of life and grim nostalgias under the Mubarak regime that take us beyond the current discussion of reforming the security forces. The other is to accept the current attempts of resurrecting the Mubarak regime - of which the brutal apparatus is only one part. The angelic image of Khaled Saeed resonated with many young people in the Arab world, especially those of middle class background. Saeed's case proved that torture practices had proliferated to a monstrous degree. They were no longer limited to the margins (squatter areas and popular quarters, that is). Contrary to Saeed's case, the second martyr, Sayed Bilal, pushed the limits of social empathy by shedding light on the silenced history of torture practices in Egypt. Following the bombing of the Church of Two Saints in Alexandria, state security attempted to present a familiar figure, Bilal's suspicious Salafi background, to the national media. In Bilal's case, the security apparatus attempted to re-create the conditions of a sectarian crisis. In the name of such crises, the Mubarak regime knew only solutions based on security measures: mass detentions, confessions elicited under torture, indiscriminate threats of abuse of those closely related to the accused victims. Let us now return to the original question: what distinguishes Mina Daniel from Khaled Saeed and Sayed Bilal? In my view, he pushed the limits of social empathy to the point of tearing. His enigmatic death exposed, all at once, the foundational narratives of the apparatus, all those narratives which formed the base of social legitimacy for the apparatus's practices in the last 30 years. In other words, Daniel's death tested the sensibility of the Egyptian public shedding light on crucial questions such as: how far is it willing to go concerning the apparatus' reform? How can the center of attention in these debates about reform shift from the apparatus itself as a "reformable" entity to the very ambiguous ways the term "thug" is being employed by both the apparatus and the national media? In the eyes of the national media, Mina's body is brimming with contradictions. If we follow the apparatus' logic, everything about him evokes suspicion. He is a Copt yet he constituted a dissident voice inside the church. He inhabited the margins of the capital. In the eyes of the middle classes, he was one of those "uncivil" soccer ultras. In short, all of those "contradictions" summon the margins of his predecessors (Saeed and Bilal among others). How can someone carry all those contradictions and yet still move so lightly? What kind of claims or demands did he make? Can they be fulfilled easily? Mina's death moves us beyond the current debates on the apparatus' reform in two decisive ways. On the one hand, protesters have discovered the limits of the language of reform and its exclusions. On more than one occasion, the ministry of interior and the military police have employed thugs to beat protesters and used the same charge of "thuggery" against them in military trials. Simply put, the apparatus paradoxically feeds on its own victims-transgressors. On the other hand, Mina's case has proved that some form of vendetta is needed at times. In my view, the profundity of vendetta lies in the fact that its animosity cannot be satiated with the destruction of one person or one entity; it is ongoing and filial. In other words, vendetta does not limit us only to the reform or purification of the security apparatus but takes us to a confrontation with the very despicable values and ways of life nurtured by the Mubarak regime (of which the apparatus perhaps is only an off-shoot). The list of those values is long, stretching from indifference and cowardice to self-loathing and indecisiveness. It is in those terms that we can speak about the legacies of Danyal, Saeed or even Bouazizi. |
21 | 2011-12-16 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/live-update-scaf-says-no-attempt-end-sit-forcibly | 00:30 am: googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Assistant Health Minister Adel al-Adawy says death toll has reached three, while there are some 255 wounded. 10:40 pm: In a statement, SCAF said that the violence at the cabinet sit-in was caused when protesters assaulted a traffic policeman while he was doing his job, which motivated the guards of the cabinet and the People Assembly buildings to intervene and disperse the sit-in. The statement added that there was no attempt to forcibly end the sit-in. 10:30 pm: Sounds of gunfire can be heard near the cabinet building. Protesters retreated. Some are falling from rubber bullet injuries. Men on motorcycles are rushing to carry the wounded to field hospitals. 10:00 pm: Some protesters threw molotov cocktails into a government building in Qasr al-Aini Street, setting fire into its different floors. Other protesters rushed toward the building with fire extinguishers. Protesters have disagreed over the act of putting fire into a government building; while some thought it was an irresponsible act, others said it was justifiable. 8:30 pm: Reuters reported medical sources as saying that two people died in the clashes. 7:00 pm: Protesters in Qasr al-Aini Street chant, "kill Khaled and kill Mina, each of your bullets make us stronger." They refer to Khaled Saeed, who was tortured to death by policemen last year, spurring a wave of anti-police protests, and Mina Daniel who was killed when military forces dispersed a march of mostly Copts last October. 6:00 pm: "[The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) advisory council] will try to urge the SCAF to issue a statement to explain the [clashes today]," presidential hopeful Mohamed Selim al-Awa tells Al-Masry Al-Youm. The advisory council will hold a meeting at 7 pm to discuss the crisis, Awa adds. 5:40 pm: MP Amr Hamzawy submitted a complaint at the Qasr al-Nil police station against SCAF, military police and the government. "I thought the government would keep its promise not to use violence against protesters. But as usual, promises are not held. I submitted the complaint as an MP and a citizen." 5:30 pm: Darkness is making it difficult for protesters to spot where rocks being thrown at them are coming from. 5:20 pm: Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei criticizes the way military police broke up the sit-in outside the cabinet building, describing it as "barbaric," "brutal," and "the greatest violation to all human laws." He also blasts the authorities' handling of the crisis: "This is not the way countries should be managed." ElBaradei wonders why the military police intervened to break up the sit-in, if the prime minister is now supposed to have the executive powers of the president of the republic, according to a recent SCAF decree. "What are the powers of the military police to intervene? Where is credibility and who is in charge?" he asks. ElBaradei also criticizes the advisory council, saying it is "just a front" for the SCAF. "Was the advisory council consulted before [the military] used excessive force to break up the sit-in? And if it was not consulted, does this mean it is just a front?" he concludes. 5:15 pm: People are throwing Molotov cocktails down on protesters from the top of the People's Assembly building. 4:30 pm: "The [ongoing] clashes [around the cabinet building and Qasr al-Aini Street] are meant to create chaos, as each time Egypt is close to achieving stability, a new problem is created," says a military source. An army officer has been injured by a live bullet and transferred to a military hospital as a result of the clashes, the source adds. "There are desperate attempts aiming to undermine Egypt's stability and drag the country into chaos, especially during the [parliamentary] elections," the source continues. "Some forces began to feel that Egypt was moving on the path to stability through elections, meaning they would lose the legitimacy of their presence in [Tahrir] Square. This prompted them to create standoffs with security forces." New Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri has refused to comment on the clashes or further explain the developments around the cabinet building. Ganzouri canceled all his meetings today, including TV interviews, to monitor the situation, holding phone calls with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Interior Ministry officials. 4:00 pm: At least one person injured in the clashes today may have been hit by live ammunition, says Eva Boutros, director of the field hospital set up near the Protestant church on Qasr al-Dubara Street. Earlier today: Thirty-six people were injured as of 4 pm Friday when military forces and unidentified people attacked a sit-in outside the cabinet building, Assistant Health Minister Adel al-Adawy told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Clashes continued on Qasr al-Aini Street, with protesters reporting hearing gunshots, and protesters and military forces throwing stones at each other. At around 4:30 pm, protesters lit a large fire in the middle of Qasr al-Aini, in an attempt to obscure the visions of those throwing stones at protesters from buildings overhead. Fighting was primarily occuring on three fronts, the upper and lower roofs of a nearby building and at the front of Maglis al-Shaab Street. Protesters were throwing rocks at unkonwn assailants who were throwing rocks, ceramics, and fixtures from nearby buildings, including wall hangings with Quranic verses on them, back at them, according to eyewitnesses. Another eyewitness said that assailants throwing rocks from the tops of nearby buildings were armed had pistols slung around their backs. Essam Kamel, a medic in a field hospital set up in front of the Mugamma administrative building near Tahrir Square, said that his hospital had received about seven people injured with live bullets in the previous two hours, in addition to receiving dozens of protesters at dawn. Two members of the recently formed advisory council to the ruling military council, Moataz Bellah Abdel Fattah and Ahmed Khairy, resigned in protest of the military police's use of violent force. Abdel Fattah said he expects other advisory council members to follow him in resigning, as he is opposed to the "unjustified violence of the miliary police against peaceful protesters." Lawyer Zeyad al-Alaimy, a parliamentary candidate heading the Egyptian Bloc's list in Cairo's fourth constituency, said he was beaten by military police breaking up the cabinet sit-in early Friday morning. "Once I heard protesters were being assaulted I headed to the sit-in, where hundreds of military personnel had attacked protesters just before I arrived," he said. "When I reached the area a group of military soldiers surrounded me and an officer told me: 'Do not think the People's Assembly will protect you,'" Alaimy recalled. Sheikh Mazhar Shaheen, the popular imam of Omar Makram Mosque who frequently preaches at protests in Tahrir, criticized the military for "assaulting peaceful protesters outside the cabinet building" in his Friday morning sermon. "We want to achieve the demands of the revolution," Shaheen went on. "We do not feel that there is any kind of change [in reality]," he said, adding that remnants of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak continue to lead. After Friday prayers, Shaheen and a number of worshipers headed to Qasr al-Aini Street to check on the situation there, and then returned to Tahrir. Early Friday morning, army and Central Security Forces could be seen spread out on both Qasr al-Aini and Maglis al-Shaab streets, which were covered with broken glass and rocks. A 59-year-old woman was seen being beaten by military officers. A group of activists were detained by military and security forces and being held inside the People's Assembly building as of noon Friday, activist Mona Seif told Egypt Independent. While in custody inside the building, Seif reported watching police slap an old woman in the face. She said that police were treating protesters like they had a "personal vendetta" against them. At around 1 pm, protesters began to be released. Most of them were women and looked badly beaten. According to witnesses, military forces threw stones and furniture at them from the cabinet building and nearby parliament building, as well as sprayed water hoses at them from atop the parliament building. Several cars were set on fire in the surrounding streets. Mostafa Bahgat, a cameraman for the OnTV satellite channel, told Egypt Independent that he was assaulted on a side street near the cabinet building by two civilians, who beat one of his legs, stole his camera and ran toward army officers. A protester showed Al-Masry Al-Youm a prison ID card that fell out of the pocket of a man attacking the sit-in along with soldiers. The protester said it was proof that thugs were hired by the military to attack the sit-in. In response to the early morning attack, protesters blocked off Qasr al-Aini Street with steel barricades and symbolic coffins. The sit-in protesters said that the clashes started after one of their fellow protesters, Aboudi Ibrahim, was kidnapped at night. Ibrahim was reportedly arrested by police, beaten and electrocuted, before being released. He was transferred to the nearby Qasr al-Aini Hospital. As the clashes escalated, protesters sang anti-military and anti-police chants, known to be primarily sung by ultras - or hardcore football fans. Some 200 protesters have continued to sleep outside the cabinet building to oppose the appointment of the cabinet of Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri. The sit-in began on 24 November, when the military council nominated Ganzouri to be prime minister. Ganzouri had served as prime minister under the toppled regime of Hosni Mubarak. The sit-in followed week-long clashes between security forces and protesters on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, off Tahrir Square, which left at least 45 dead and scores injured. |
22 | 2011-12-24 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/subtext-military-councils-video-evidence | Since October when the army forcibly dispersed a peaceful protest at Maspero, claiming the lives of 27 mostly Coptic protesters, it has become customary for the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to hold a press conference after a bloody attack on protesters with two LCD monitors on each side of the podium. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The screens are there to complement the text read by whichever general has been chosen to address the media on behalf of the SCAF and the Egyptian military. This time, following five days of clashes between the army and protesters on Qasr al-Aini Street, it was SCAF member Major General Adel Emara who took the lead in addressing the media in a presser. The violence was preceded by a sit-in lasting around three weeks in front of the cabinet building on Qasr al-Aini, with protesters objecting to military rule and the appointment of Kamal al-Ganzouri as prime minister. Ganzouri also held this post during the 1990s under toppled President Hosni Mubarak and is considered to be a remnant of the former regime. Like at the Maspero presser, held on 12 October, Emara denied that the armed forces used excessive violence against the protesters, saying, "The military is not trained to use such violence." But, Emara explained, any force that was used by the military was in reaction to the protesters' intentional and systematic provocation. "No human can bear what the protesters subject us to," he said. The military thus quelled the destructive drive of the hidden hand plotting to topple the state with the least possible amount of violence. "We are envied for our level of self-restraint," Emara added. In the speech, the protesters were characterized as thugs, infiltrators or agents paid for by a mysterious force that seeks to destroy Egypt. The general's warnings were framed as coming from an ordinary Egyptian citizen who is concerned for Egypt and the "prestigeof the state"rather than a member of the ruling military council. The video shown by Emara was meant to support the SCAF's narrative: to prove that it was the demonstrators who were on the offensive, trying to break into the parliament building and set aflame the Egyptian Scientific Institute, allegedly for no reason other than to wreck havoc and tarnish the image of the army, as dictated by the invisible hand. The video consisted of an incoherent sequences of shots (mixed angles, day and night shots, indoor and outdoor shots), heavily edited and mostly irrelevant. The shots are not meant to be logical or coherent. They are meant to play on irrational fears of chaos, conspiracies, mob behavior and even sexual license and debauchery. The video tries its best to depict those who were beaten and detained by the military as ignorant, unprincipled, gullible and poor. The video featured "confessions" of detained minors who were compelled to name well-known activists as being behind the clashes. Emara introduced the video with the words: "These shots are neither prepared beforehand nor fabricated. They are being circulated in the media. It's about facts; you see what happened with the eye you wish to see it with. These are facts that I am putting in front of you." He paused to ask that the volume be turned up then continued, "Of course the beginning of the event is visible here. Our soldiers are inside the parliament building and the tents are outside. No friction whatsoever between the two groups." The first shot has a title over the moving image that reads, "The infiltrators among the revolutionaries." The video is an excerpt from state television coverage. You see a group of boys and girls sitting on the sidewalk chatting and laughing and the camera moves to focus on a young couple; the man's arm rests on the girl's shoulders. There are no signs of a protest. In fact the sidewalk and street around them are quite clean and you hear no sounds of clashes, only the joyous babble of the youngsters. It is daytime in the shot. Before you realize it, the shot is cut short by footage that was taken from atop a building at night. The shot of the couple could not have had any other function than to provoke disapproval of the mixing of the sexes at the sit-in and the permissive behavior allegedly taking place between male and female protesters. The rest of the video attempts to further stigmatize the "protesters" and to depict them as destructive and immoral. The shots that follow show individuals - mostly young - throwing stones. The camera focuses on the aggressive act of hurling stones and avoids any context. We do not see the sequence of events, what happened before the throwing, who they're throwing at and why. At some point, we see the same shot that was used by the SCAF in their video statement number 90, this time in slow motion: a few people holding broken pieces of furniture, fighting something/someone in the window of a building. Emara had to explain the unclear image as "the protesters entering the parliament building." No mention is made of the existence of aggressors on the roof and inside the building. Our minds only perceive the unexplained urge of the protesters to vandalize the building. Scenes of the burning Egyptian Scientific Institute and the Transportation Ministry building on Qasr al-Aini Street are shown at length. We see the flames coming out of the windows and a seemingly careless amused crowd, many of them young, throwing stones while smiling.Emara commented, "They are saying we will burn we will burn." Emara spoke over scenes of the Egyptian Scientific Institute burning, saying gravely, "This is the catastrophe! The institute burning! The nation's conscience...the nation's conscience is burning! This institute for which they wept, they wept. The world's breath stopped...the world's breath stopped as the history of Egypt was burning, and the youngsters who were burning this institute were taking pride in such acts. The Egyptian Scientific Institute is completely destroyed. It dates back to 1798! It's over... in 2011." The following scene shows firefighters hosing water inside one of the institute's windows although the fire seems to be out by the time this scene was shot. Emara explained: "Of course all the firefighters' attempts, be they civilian or military, to reach the fire earlier were prevented." The next shot was clearly taken earlier, when the firefighters would have been useful. It shows flames pouring out of a window of the institute. According to Emara, this is "a picture that will be registered by the world. A shame for us, that this institute should burn. The secretary general of the institute called me crying. It had some manuscripts and books inside that were the history of Egypt." Afterward, in a night shot, a man talks to the camera; "Nobody here is 'clean', they're all thieves and thugs.'" The camera man asks innocently, "Really? All of them?" The interviewee answers affirmatively. To reinforce hatred for the mad, destructive, irrational protesters, the next shot shows a soldier holding a bandage on his face and bleeding, with two sympathetic soldiers on each side of him, then a soldier lying on a stretcher, visibly in pain. Fellow soldiers and an army officer take him to the ambulance van. In the following scene, he is being treated by doctors. At this point, Emara interjected: "Stop there. Stop, go back (the video is rewound). This is a picture of an injured soldier, because you talk of excessive use of force and such things. This is a soldier whose legs are completely torn from a sharp tool that the protesters, well, one of the protesters had." A cut is visible on the side of the soldier's thigh. "He hit the soldier with it and cut his artery, and he is now in a critical condition." Emara then asked that the screening go on. The next scene depicts peaceful, hardworking soldiers building a barbwire barrier. When this was shown, Emara confirmed that "this is the stage when we started to build barriers." In the following shot, demonstrators at a different time of the day throwing rocks at a metal fence. The camera is filming from inside the fence, which was built on the third day of the clashes on Qasr al-Aini Street. Emara explained: "Again, this is an attempt to thwart our effort to build the insulating wall." The next scene shows a much larger crowd of protesters. This time the camera is filming behind the "insulation" wall, built by the army on the third day of clashes. Some protesters are holding flares that, according to Emara, "are flares that are usually used in football matches. They are using them to hit the soldiers." The next shot shows soldiers looking at a flare in a pond in front of them. The second half of the video is made up of interviews with minors and one adult woman. Most of the minors interviewed are detained in a location that seems to be the parliament building. They look scared, and their testimonies are vague and hesitant. Some of them are injured. One has a stream of blood running from his forehead to his chin. While the woman is being interviewed with two microphones, one of which carries the logo of state TV, screams can be heard in the background, likely coming from someone who is being tortured. Four minors are questioned about the people who supposedly pushed them to participate in the clashes. One of the minors seems less frightened and does not appear to be injured. The interviewer asks him: "Did you see anything strange in the square or in your neighborhood or anywhere?" The child: "Yes, I noticed that in our building there is a publishing house called Dar Merit. During the beating and the "Mohamed Mahmoud" clashes and such things, the publishing house was distributing helmets and tear gas remedies and masks to people." Interviewer: "Where is it?" The child: "In our building on 6 Qasr al-Nil Street." The person conducting the interview asks who the owner of the publishing house is, and the child answers that his name is Mohamed Hashem. The interviewer says, "Mohamed Hashem. Ok. What else did you see?" The child: "I saw that during sit-ins they used to bring food and bread and such things and distribute them to people." The interviewer clarifies that the child saw this in Tahrir Square, and the boy answers in the affirmative, adding, "Whenever anything happened they would gather, divide into groups and enter the square from different points." The interviewer asks the child if he saw what these people were doing in the square, and the child answers: "For instance, if you're not wearing a helmet they give you one and tell you... they incite you... they tell you go in and such things. For instance they say, 'You let your brothers get beaten there?' It happened in front of me." Interviewer: "It happened in front of you? They didn't try to bring people from outside or give them money? You haven't seen any of them giving money to anyone?" The child: "No, no money... but I noticed that all of them let their beard grow from here [he holds his hand to his chin], but not too long. They cut it if it gets too long. And they have braided hair." The interviewer asks the boy if they all look alike and he says yes. When the interviewer asks how many of these people the boy saw in the square, he says, "About 120." The interviewer clarifies the number then asks if there are both men and women and if they work in the publishing house. The child answers both questions affirmatively. "They work in the publishing house, but during the fighting you don't see them in the front lines. They are not the ones who are fighting," the boy says. The boy explains that he observed all of this from his building, which overlooks the square, and the interviewer thanks him for his testimony. The video moves on to show a state TV interview of a tired looking woman wearing a pink scarf. Her answers drift into a personal account of family problems: sexual harassment by her in-laws, her precarious marital arrangement, a drug-trafficking step-father, poverty and domestic violence. At this point Emara shouted: "Fast forward we're running out of time." But several journalists objected, saying "We want to hear." Emara gave in to their demands, allowing the woman's peculiar statement to continue airing. The woman continues to speak in a whisper, saying that she had been detained for throwing stones but maintaining her innocence, then moving on to a long-winded story about her family's legal troubles. Finally the general became impatient with the woman's disjointed testimony, exclaiming: "Let's move to something else. Move to the next!" One of the other minors interviewed has a faint voice and seems to be on the verge of crying. He says: "I don't know who the man was; I've got nothing to do with it. I've got nothing to do with politics... so I made him a Molotov cocktail. I entered the tent of the Ultras, I found flares and molotovs." Interviewer: "But Mostafa you made this Molotov cocktail, where did you get it from?" After some stuttering, Mostafa answers that someone named Mr. Meguid gave him LE50 to purchase benzene to make a Molotov cocktail. The interviewer asks how the child made Molotov cocktails, and Mostafa explains, "I fill the bottle with benzene. I put cloth in it and throw it." The child then clarifies that he does not actually throw the Molotov cocktails, saying he doesn't know how. He is only responsible for making them. The interviewer asks if the child sleeps in the street and who provides for him, and Mostafa answers that Mr. Meguid gives him, and other street children, food and drink. The interviewer asks, "How much did he give you daily? LE100?" Mostafa nods. The film closes with a shot of a calm night street. At this point, Emara closed the conference with the dramatic statement: "Egypt has not and will never fall" For many, the video doesn't clarify what happened at the cabinet sit-in. But it may be successful in provoking hatred against the protesters. As fears of moral decadence, chaos and vicious plots rises, the public may come to believe that an excess of violence and a bit of killing may be necessary to save Egypt from impending danger. |
23 | 2012-01-04 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypts-forensic-medicine-authority-revolution | Thursday afternoon is typically a slow time in most government offices. But these days, there aren't any slow times for Ihsan Kamil Gorgy, Egypt's chief forensic doctor. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); On a recent Thursday, both Gorgy's landline and mobile phone rung ceaselessly. Reporters flocked to his waiting room to ask about the latest death toll or the autopsy reports of victims of the most recent bloody clashes between protesters and the armed forces. The scene isn't much calmer outside the building. A group of Ultras (football fanatics) have just walked away. Earlier they had protested angrily while waiting for the body of one of their comrades to be released from the morgue. Mohamed Mostafa was killed in the last round of violence with military personnel near Tahrir Square in December. From his window on the second floor, Gorgy could hear the crowd shouting in reference to the killing: "This is disgraceful, you infidels!" "If I were in their position, I would do the same thing," says the 58-year-old Gorgy. "Families come here in anger and assume that I am part of the regime and that my job is to protect that regime. But I consider myself only a forensic doctor." In early May, Gorgy was appointed as chief forensic doctor, succeeding Ahmed al-Sebai in a step widely seen an attempt to purge the Forensic Medicine Authority (FMA) of remnants of the old regime. With his Upper Egyptian accent, the Assiout-raised Gorgy says he takes it upon himself to reverse the FMA's "bad reputation." In recent months, Gorgy and his team have been swamped by the growing death toll from the ongoing political upheaval. They had to release death investigation reports on dozens of victims who lost their lives in clashes either with the armed forces or the police. These reports did not always support the accounts given by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). While the generals insisted continually that neither police nor military personnel used live ammunition during attacks on protesters at Maspero, or on Mohamed Mahmoud and Qasr al-Aini streets, the FMA reports revealed numerous cases of protesters killed by bullets. Recently, Gorgy has made headlines after affirming that Al-Azhar Sheikh Emad Effat and medical student Alaa Abdel Hady were killed by bullets shot from a long distance during December clashes with military personnel. With this statement, Gorgy dismissed earlier media reports that he was shot by unknown infiltrators who were standing among protesters. His statement also supported claims that military personnel were shooting at protesters from the rooftops of surrounding buildings. Earlier, Gorgy had said that deposed President Hosni Mubarak was in good shape. His opinion meant that Mubarak could be transferred from the International Medical Center, where he has been held for trial since August, to Tora prison, a move that Egypt's generals seem reluctant to make, possibly for fear of humiliating the former supreme commander of the armed forces. "The FMA performance has improved," says Magdy Adly, a doctor with the Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence. She praises the FMA's recent decision to, for the first time, accept human rights representatives as observers during autopsies. In October, Adly walked into the morgue, as a human rights activist, while doctors examined the bodies of protesters killed by the military in front of Maspero. A month later, she was allowed to check the corpses of those killed in Mohamed Mahmoud clashes. "Later on, I saw the autopsy reports and they were compatible with the initial examination, which proves that the autopsy was conducted in a transparent way," she says. For Adel Ramadan, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the impartiality of recent FMA reports was inevitable. "Now, victims' families and the media are watching [forensic doctors]. This is why they cannot falsify reports," says Ramadan, pointing out the FMA's job in the past was to cover up human rights violations. "[Gorgy] is trying to show that he is better than his predecessor," says Ramadan. However, he still has reservations about the FMA. "Even if you take him in good faith, he still does not have the resources and the independence needed to act fairly," he says. Challenges ahead While the number of forensic cases has risen sharply in the midst of political turmoil, the size of the medical staff remains the same. With only 102 field forensic doctors, the FMA had to handle more than 29,000 cases from 1 January to the end of November 2011. "Our work had doubled, while the number of doctors has decreased because many of them are away," says Ahmed Said, a 37-year-old forensic doctor. He recounts that the day following the clashes on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in downtown Cairo, in which more than 40 people were killed, he and three colleagues had to perform autopsies on 20 bodies. Like most state-employed professionals, forensic doctors complain that their salaries are too low to provide a decent living. According to Gorgy, the monthly salary ranges between LE1,000 for a beginner and LE6000 for the chief doctor. Unlike other medical specialists, forensic doctors cannot increase their income by working for private medical entities, since the law stipulates they should only be working for the government, complains Gorgy. To make ends meet, many doctors go on unpaid leave to work in the Gulf. According to Ashraf al-Refai, the assistant chief senior forensic doctor, more than 70 of the FMA's doctors are currently working in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. "In Kuwait, he [a doctor] would get LE32,000 a month while, here he gets LE1,500," says al-Refai, who previously worked in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Besides low wages, the budget allocated to the FMA does not allow doctors to keep up with new technologies. Gorgy complains that he is only left with LE334,000 this year to upgrade his equipment. This amount falls short of the minimum of LE750,000 he says he needs to buy new equipment at market prices. The scarcity of sophisticated forensic technologies is not the only problem for younger doctors. "There are almost no resources," says Saeed, who complains that the FMA does not even provide doctors with computers, cameras to photograph bodies, printers or even suitable offices. The situation outside of Cairo is "inhumane", he says. Doctors may have work in dark morgues and may find no appropriate medical jars in which to carry samples to laboratories. In pursuit of independence The FMA consists of four departments: forensic medical examiners, medical laboratories, chemistry units and counterfeiting and forgery units. These departments are run by "forensic experts" - doctors, pharmacists, chemists, technicians and photographers. The FMA reports directly to the Justice Ministry and it is the minister who appoints the FMA head and decides on the budget. This affiliation of the FMA to the executive of the government has been one of the reasons for doubts about its impartiality. After Mubarak's ouster, the rising prospects for democratization encouraged hundreds of the FMA's nearly 650 forensic experts to convene in April and discuss ways to improve their jobs and safeguard their professional integrity. They selected 20 people from among themselves to draft a new regulatory code for the FMA that would liberate it from any ties to the government. "We are about to finish the final draft of the bill," says Walid Abel Hamid, a 38-year-old forensic chemist and one of the architects of the draft bill. Forensic experts will present this bill to the new People's Assembly after it convenes on 23 January, hoping their proposal will be transformed into legislation. The draft bill stipulates that the FMA should be granted full administrative and financial independence from the executive. By letting forensic examiners, rather than judges, administer the FMA, decide on the budget and lay out priorities, the body's technical performance will improve, argues Abdel Hamid. "[Judges] do not understand the nature of our technical work or our needs." Under the same draft bill, the FMA head would not be appointed by the government. Instead, the post would go automatically to the most senior forensic examiner, Abdel Hamid tells Egypt Independent. "The way the head is appointed undermines the FMA's prestige and independence," says Abdel Hamid. In January 2008, the justice minister ignored a long-standing bureaucratic tradition of entrusting the most senior forensic doctor with presiding over the FMA by selecting Sebai, who was the seventh name on the seniority list. His unexpected ascent to the post raised questions about his potential ties with the regime. Abdel Hamid believes the appointment method suggested in the draft bill would diffuse any skepticism that the FMA head is run by a government loyalist. "That will increase the society's faith in the [FMA]," he says. In the meantime, the four forensic examiners interviewed for this article denied that they were ever openly pressured to release false reports in favor of the regime. According to Refai, the worst that could happen under Mubarak was to have a police officer call the forensic examiner to convince him that he did not really torture the person that the doctor is examining. "I would listen to him, but the report would come out as it should be," he says. "I did not owe this officer anything." For his part, Said blames flawed reports on poor resources rather than government pressures. "When you have weak resources and receive no training, you will make mistakes," says Saeed. "Perhaps, the [old] regime was deliberately depriving sensitive authorities like ours of resources to disable them from making [legal] cases." The integrity of the forensic body came into question after forensic doctors released the infamous report on Khaled Saeed, the young man from Alexandria who was tortured to death by two policemen in June 2010. While the photograhs of his deformed face and broken jaw went viral in the media, the FMA said that he had died of asphyxia after swallowing a bag of narcotics. The FMA was accused of twisting realities to acquit Mubarak's police. Both Refai and Gorgy hold that this report manifested several technical flaws. First, examiners violated international protocols by not taking pictures showing the wounds. Second, they did not make all the necessary medical tests. The public outrage that Khaled Saeed's death elicited is now considered a prelude to the 25 January revolution. "The society and the state should realize the [FMA] influenced all court rulings, and hence should look into what is needed to improve its performance and credibility," says Abdel Hamid. |
24 | 2012-01-24 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/was-egyptian-revolution-really-non-violent | As attention turns to the anniversary of the 25 January revolution, questions arise about the nature of the Egyptian revolution and what is required for its success. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The questions are: for a revolution to succeed, can it be completely peaceful and nonviolent? When you are trying to overthrow a heavy-handed security-based regime that cracks down on dissent in a violent manner, can you succeed using only nonviolent means? The Egyptian revolution of 2011 was universally celebrated as peaceful in nature, especially with the media spotlight on Tahrir Square and the consistent and strategic chanting of "selmeya" (peaceful) that rang out from the crowd. Yet numerous police stations and buildings associated with the ruling National Democratic Party were burned on 28 January and fierce battles occurred in Sinai and Suez. Flames looming in the skies of different Egyptian cities could be seen as a symbol of the regime's fall. The fighting continued past 28 January. Many ask if this revolution would have succeeded had Tahrir Square fallen to pro-regime thugs during the Battle of the Camel on 2 February. Protesters valiantly fought back throughout the night to keep the square. The uprising of 2011 is often idealized as nonviolent, and to a great extent that is true, but since then and as violence toward protesters increases, there is a popular perception that the revolutionary on the street has changed: that there is a more violent atmosphere during recent events and that the revolutionaries of post-25 January are no longer the clean, middle-class faces associated with the 18-day uprising. This perception overlooks the fact that violence broke out on 25 January in different places throughout the country. Shehab Bassam was one of the earliest protesters to make it to Tahrir Square. "They started tear gassing us right away so we threw stones at them, which they threw back," he says. Bassam was hit in the head with a rock that day and had to get four stitches. He was detained on 28 January. "28 January was an extremely violent day," says Hosni Nabil, whose brother, Ali, was killed that day in downtown Cairo. "We paid a dear price for this revolution, and it wouldn't have succeeded otherwise." Ali lived downtown and initially went to find his other brother Mostafa, who was participating in the protests. He was shot as he carried injured protesters to a field hospital. The deaths that involved a measure of violence reinvigorated revolutionary fervor during the 18 critical days that led to the toppling of Hosni Mubarak. Many revolutionaries today credit the sacrifice of these martyrs for the fact that the revolution continues. Ali was a house painter who supplemented his meager income by doing random jobs in his neighborhood. He is an example how popular perceptions of the revolutionaries have been skewed, so that the martyrs are idealized as educated, internet-savvy, white-collar types. This perception is encouraged and utilized by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to discredit protesters, such as during the November battles on Mohamed Mahmoud Street and the December clashes in front of the cabinet building. In their press briefings after these violent events, the SCAF claimed that the protesters were actually thugs. The insinuation is that these protesters aren't the original type of protesters, the true revolutionaries who were in the square last January. The discourse of thug versus revolutionary is also brought up during the trials of policemen accused of killing protesters. A certain media discourse, aided by the defense of these policemen, has purported that those who have been killed near police stations were thugs who were shot in self-defense. Mohamed Gamal Bashir, a former member of the football group Ultras White Knights and known in online social networks as "Gemyhood," unpacks this image. "Let's not forget what happened in the days between 25 January and 28 January, this glossed over part of history," he says. "There were constant clashes in Omraneya for example, and there were people in Talbiya trying to get to the Foreign Ministry. The fighting continued long after the political elite were tear-gassed out of the square on 25 January." Bashir speaks of the "harafish," whom he defines as youth with no prospects who often skirt the edge of the law. He claims that their actions led to the revolution's success. He says that they burnt police stations in their neighborhoods in response to decades of oppression by police against the poor. "The power of this revolution came from these harafish burning police stations and from the collapse of the Interior Ministry. That was utilized by the political elites who centralized the struggle in Tahrir Square. Without this confrontation, the revolution wouldn't have been possible, and every police station was burnt to the ground because people have been dying inside them for years. There is a veneer of nonviolence but no one saw the battles in Suez and elsewhere - How is it peaceful when people are dying in the streets?" Bashir says. "People don't understand what nonviolent resistance means," Bashir continues. "It means not taking up arms and revolting, like what happened in Libya and Yemen, where uprisings began like the one in Egypt but people eventually took up arms. It doesn't mean not responding to violence." But some say that nonviolent resistance means not responding to attacks by security forces. Protesters faced criticism during the clashes at Mohamed Mahmoud for continuing to fight with police forces after the latter attempted to forcibly evict a sit-in. Essam Saber died on Mohamed Mahmoud, shot in the head as he was pulling injured protesters out of the fray. Saber hailed from Imbaba and worked in advertising. "Essam was a fighter who didn't accept injustice, a young man who cared about his country and defended it. He is a huge loss for us, and we want justice from those who killed him," his uncle says. Again, this shows that those who were involved in the clashes are not necessarily politicized and do not fit the archetype portrayed in the media. Bassam recalls that at the beginning of 25 January, "there were all kinds of people there, even people I knew who I hadn't seen in years. None of them were into politics. No one expected this to happen. It wasn't arranged, people just headed down [to Tahrir] because they had nothing to lose." Yet Abdel-Rahman Samir from the Revolutionary Youth Coalition feels that the protesters lost some public sympathy during the clashes on Mohamed Mahmoud because some were responding in kind to violence. "We won some media solidarity but we lost sympathy from citizens. Last January we lost a lot of lives, but we didn't win by attacking the Interior Ministry - we won by staying in the square. When you are attacked but remain peaceful you manage to get more support on the streets, and this creates greater pressure." Samir says that nonviolent resistance is the most successful revolutionary method, and prior to January 2011 some young revolutionaries studied the examples of countries such as Chile where nonviolent resistance was successful. Members of the April 6 Youth Movement faced heavy criticism for attending a workshop in Serbia about how to peacefully overthrow dictatorial regimes. Similarly, Sherif Younes, history lecturer at Helwan University sees that nonviolent resistance is the best approach in a place like Egypt. He points out that there is a difference between the intensity of politically-related violence in Egypt and other countries in the region, such as Iraq, where violence is more intense. "In Egypt, the murders of Khaled Saeed and Sayed Bilal or the Two Saints Church bombing were huge events, but in Iraq, for example, they might not resonate as much," he says. "So there is a difference in the extent of violence." Younes also contends that the Egyptian revolution was not an organized one and was carried out by regular citizens who were less likely to be carrying arms. Weapons are generally uncommon in Egypt except in the south. However, violence against protesters has increased since the first 18 days. Younes believes that this trend has adversely affected the military's standing. "A confrontation such as that in Libya or Syria usually stems from a schism within the military ranks, because it is the military that has the firepower. The military did not attack protesters in January for fear of schisms emerging within the ranks," he says. "So it couldn't have happened any other way. The military has increased violence recently but has lost politically as a result. That is why it is now in its interests to hand over power as soon as possible." |
25 | 2012-01-27 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/update-military-sympathizer-throws-sound-bombs-demonstrators | A pro-military demonstrator targeted protesters outside of the Defense Ministry in the Abbasseya neighborhood with sound bombs while they were heading back to Tahrir Square. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Tahrir protesters failed to catch him after he ran away once he threw the bombs. Demonstrators outside the ministry decided to end their protest there and march to Tahrir Square after activists convinced them that it is useless to stay in the area. On their way to the square, clashes erupted between them and residents who went down to the street in support of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The residents raised their shoes in the faces of the demonstrators who in turn chanted, calling them crazy. Political activists have decided to hold a peaceful march from Tahrir to the Defense Ministry. Ultras - hardcore football fans who often join political protests - have said they will participate in the march and wear black to pay homage to the martyrs of the 25 January revolution. Earlier in the day, military and police forces have been deployed outside the Defense Ministry, as a reaction to reports that activists in Tahrir Square are planning to march on the ministry to express their opposition to the council's continuing rule. Large numbers of army and police forces have spread throughout the streets around the ministry, while dozens of armed vehicles and army personnel have surrounded the building. One activist organizing the march, who preferred to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the decision to hold the march came after activists held deliberations in the square. A number of the protesters decided in advance to secure a protest area near Kobba Bridge nearby the ministry. An activist group in Abbasseya has also organized a thousands-strong march to Tahrir before afternoon prayers, to join other demonstrators who are seeking to end military rule. |
26 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/activists-call-escalating-civil-disobedience-force-scaf-exit | As public outrage mounts over violence at a football match Wednesday, two prominent Egyptian activist groups are calling on citizens to engage in acts of civil disobedience to impel the ruling military council to step down. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Both the April 6 Youth Movement's Mansoura branch and the Popular Campaign to Support Mohamed ElBaradei called for a general partial strike to begin Thursday and escalate with unspecified acts of civil disobedience until 11 February, which marks the one-year anniversary of former President Hosni Mubarak's resignation. In a statement, the Popular Campaign to Support Mohamed ElBaradei described the Port Said violence as "a conspiracy to get revenge on the ultras." The campaign described the ultras, as hardcore football fans are known in Egypt, as "heroes of the Battle of the Camel and Mohamed Mahmoud [Street clashes]" and said that national security threats will increase every day that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces remains in power. ElBaradei announced he would not run for president in January, but his campaign has vowed to continue his reform efforts in Egypt. The campaign held the SCAF responsible for the Port Said riots, which it mentioned coincided with the first anniversary of the infamous Battle of the Camel - when thugs riding horses and camels attacked peaceful protesters in the square - and came amid a string of bank robberies and other security failures across the country. At least 71 people died and hundeds were injured Wednesday night at the Port Said football stadium when fans rushed the field and clashes broke out. The April 6 Youth Movement's Mansoura branch also called for civil disobedience Thursday, urging that it continue until power is handed over to a civilian government. The SCAF is still defending remnants of the former Mubarak regime, said the April 6 statement, calling on the People's Assembly to hold those involved in the Port Said riots - including the SCAF - accountable. The statement also demanded the formation of a national salvation government and retribution for the victims of the Port Said violence. |
27 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/activists-politicians-see-more-hooliganism-football-violence | At least 71 are confirmed dead in the worst-ever fan violence following a sporting event in Egypt, after a fight apparently broke out between fans of the home football team Masry and visiting team Ahly in the coastal city of Port Said. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); People moving from the Masry stands swarmed the field after a 3-1 victory over Ahly, in a riot that also left at least 313 injured and seems certain to shake Egyptian society to its core. The violence has already raised calls to assign blame, with many accusing security forces and their bosses in Egypt's transition, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Others are opting to situate the event in expected football hooliganism, common in Egypt. Eyewitnesses described security forces as doing very little to prevent the violence, while more than just Masry fans attacked the Ahly Ultras. "All of my friends returning from the match assured us that they were not attacked by soccer fans only, but by another infiltrating crowd," said journalist Mohamed Beshir on his Twitter account. Eyewitnesses also confirmed that security was entirely absent when the Masry fans stormed the field. They claimed that security forces allowed Masry fans to enter the visiting team's stands. Masry fans were allowed to celebrate their third goal in the field without being confronted by police. They did the same after they won the match and instead of celebrating their extremely rare win, began attacking Ahly players and fans. "We were worried and pleaded with Central Security Forces to allow us to wait behind closed doors until things died down, while they kept telling us to leave," said Ahmed, an Ahly Ultras member who refused to give his full name due to the group's no-media policy. When they refused to leave the stands, Central Security Forces opened the door to angry Masry fans, and that's when the situation worsened, Ahmed added. "Security forces are supposed to secure the exit of fans with an iron fist. Protocol calls for them to close all gates leading to the visiting team's fans until they are sure of their security," said Adel Aql, a veteran football match observer. Reports suggest that the security ignored warning signs of potential clashes. In the pre-match warm up, fans fired flare guns and fireworks at the Ahly players and, "police received a tip that known ex-cons were making their way to the Masry stadium armed with melee weapons," said Wael Qandeel, managing editor of the daily Al-Shorouk, citing personal sources. In a statement posted by the Masry Ultras Green Eagles on their Facebook page, the group assured that they were committed to peacefully supporting their team and preventing any infiltrators from reaching their ranks. The group noted that it was approached by "some thugs" before the match as they wanted to pressure the government to give them apartments by attempting to kidnap the Ahly players from their hotel. The Masry Ultras also said that earlier in the morning, some people fought to get tickets to the game threatening vendors with arms. "Our group has nothing to do with what happened. We shall stop our activities as the Masry Ultras Green Eagles in respect to those who were killed for Egypt," read the statement, which also called for a march to protest the violence and demand an end to military rule. Many of the victims died from direct blows to the head with weapons, and others from asphyxiation from being trampled under the 17,000-strong crowd, according to Health Ministry reports. "This is a massacre. I've never seen as many dead bodies in one place at one time out of all the wars I've witnessed," said Port Said MP Al-Badry Farghaly in a television interview. Farghaly confirmed reports that the Port Said governor and the city's head of security did not attend the match, which is uncommon for games between the two teams. "For the first time in the recent history of matches between the two teams, the governor and head of security from the city are absent," said Khaled Mamdouh, a veteran sports journalist in a television interview. "I am not a proponent of conspiracy theories. But today a massacre happened, and someone has to be responsible. There is only the SCAF right now who seems responsible. This is an indication that we all need to stand together to end military rule as soon as possible," said activist Wael Khalil. Wednesday's violence came right after SCAF head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi gave a speech saying he would limit the use of the Emergency Law to acts of thuggery. It also comes one day after Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim spoke at Parliament proselytizing on the merit of emergency laws. Many linked the match violence to these statements in a regime quest to showcase the relevance of the Emergency Law, abolishment of which has been one of the main demands of the revolutionaries since January 2011. "What happened cannot be a coincidence. This massacre and three armed robberies happened only one day after Ibrahim tried to talk to us about the need for a state of emergency," Ziad al-Elaimy, an MP with the Social Democratic Party said in a television interview. "There is no such thing as 73 killed [the official number when Younis spoke] because of a soccer game. This is a planned massacre, just like the Mohamed Mahmoud massacre in November," said Sherif Younis, a history professor at Helwan University, in reference to the November 2011 clashes that left more than 40 dead after security forces and military police attacked a small group of peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square. Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi echoed Younis' sentiments in a television interview when he said, "This is a planned ambush on the Ahly Ultras group for their prominent role in the 25 January Revolution." The fans of the popular club were at the forefront of the protests that led to the toppling of Hosni Mubarak last year as well as ongoing protests demanding the end of the SCAF's rule. In its statement, the Muslim Brotherhood opted to blame security forces for "punishing the Egyptian people for their revolution," while denouncing all acts of violence throughout the country, including, "the threat to attack Parliament and the youth of the Brothers who stood to protect it." On Tuesday, a stand-off between peaceful protesters and Brotherhood youth around Parliament led to 75 injuries. Tantawi refused to comment on the possibility of sacking the Port Said governor while giving interviews at Cairo International Airport where many of the injured were arriving. "This could happen anywhere in the world," he said. He also called on people to take the matter into their own hands. "Normal people must move against the people who did this," said Tantawi. "Normal people did this, so normal people must move to stop them." The SCAF announced a three-day mourning period and said it is forming an investigative committee. While the SCAF sent two planes to transport the most badly injured Ahly fans back to Cairo, the central Cairo train station in Midan Ramses was filled with incensed protesters looking to receive the rest of the returning fans. Along with weeping family and friends lamenting the massacre and demanding justice, thousands stood in unison throughout Thursday's early morning hours chanting "Down with military rule ... down with the field marshal." |
28 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/cairo-morgue-families-port-said-stadium-victims-blame-authorities | The bodies of 51 of the 71 people killed at Port Said stadium on Wednesday are now inside the Zeinhom Morgue in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood. Outside the building, the lamentations of mothers whose sons went to cheer at a football match and never came back mix with angry cries against military rule as many hold the military junta accountable for the deaths. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The clashes started when fans of Port Said's Masry team attacked fans of the opposing Ahly team following Masry's 3-1 victory. Zeinhom Morgue was chaotic as the families entered restricted areas and most doctors stayed in their offices, refusing to perform autopsies out of fear of the crowd, according to an employee in the morgue. The brother of two of the victims walked around the morgue banging his head against the walls and repeating, "They killed both my sisters. The whole gang has to be hanged." The wedding of Iman, 25, was planned for Friday. Her younger sister Aya, 22, was supposed to get married next month. Her brother Ahmed said both were killed by live fire. "I blame the National Democratic Party, it's the one that is destroying the country," said Ahmed, referring to the dismantled former ruling party, echoing a widely held belief that the stadium violence was orchestrated by the enemies of the revolution. "Only god is with me now," says Ahmed, who says he has given up on justice after watching the prosecution of those who killed protesters in the early days of the revolution drag on for over a year. Zeinhom Morgue has become the site of frequent collective mourning, where families of victims gather after violent incidents that have been breaking out on a monthly basis for the last year. Families of the martyrs who died in clashes with security forces in the last months while protesting for the completion of the revolution's demands often consoled themselves with the fact that their loved ones died for a higher cause. But today, the mourners were tormented by the futile deaths of their beloved, repeating in disbelief, "They were going to a football game." The mothers of victims were inconsolable as they stood together in a sea of black, each one calling out her dead son's name, reciting his traits and crying over her plans for him that were cut short. The mother of Ahmed Taher, a 16-year-old student who was killed in the events, clutched his legs covered in a black bag, crying, "He's 16, he hasn't lived yet, he was my everything." Members of the usually loud Ultras Ahlawy group were unrecognizable as they leaned on each other, unable to stand up straight, while some curled up in the corners of the morgue crying over their lost compatriots. An overwhelming belief among the mourners that the clashes that killed their loved ones were orchestrated was reflected in the cries of anger against the military and the government that rang out in the morgue. "We will show you what we will do; we will get back at you for killing our sons and burning our hearts," cried Abdel Moneim Khalifa, who was in the morgue to receive the body of his nephew, 22-year-old Ahmed Ismail, after his father went to Port Said to look for him when he heard about the events in the stadium. "I blame this on all the people who are after money and power - how could they let this happen? They should do something, anything," said Khalifa as he stood in the middle of the bodies lined up in the morgue. |
29 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/fifa-president-football-rage-not-responsible-port-said-deaths | BRUSSELS - The president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) said Thursday that football-related rage was not the cause of the bloody events that followed an Egyptian Premier League match in Port Said on Wednesday. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); FIFA president Sepp Blatter told Al-Masry Al-Youm he would not make any accusations before the results of an investigation into the incident are announced. Riots broke out at the Port Said football stadium late Wednesday after the local team, Masry, defeated the Cairo-based Ahly club. Thousands of hardcore football fans, known in Egypt as ultras, supporting Masry invaded the pitch following their victory and clashed with Ahly Ultras, leaving at least 71 dead and at least 313 injured, according to the Health Ministry. Blatter offered his condolences to the families of the victims. "This is a black day for football. Such a catastrophic situation is unimaginable and should not happen," said Blatter in a letter he sent to the Egyptian Football Association. Blatter added that he spoke with association head Samir Zaher earlier on Thursday to get more details on the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. He told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he asked Zaher if the deaths were a result of intentional murder or from a stampede, adding that Zaher promised to provide him with the relevant details. Declining to comment on the debate over whether Egyptian football should continue, Blatter said the decision is up to the country's security authorities. He did, however, say that sporting events that lead to deaths should not proceed. Blatter implied the Egyptian Football Association was partially responsible for the incident, saying that the decision to hold a match should only be made if security measures are ensured for players, fans and referees. He went on to say that any local football association is entitled to cancel a game if it senses any security threat, even if authorities have provided assurances otherwise. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm |
30 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/funerals-port-said-dead-held-across-egypt | Funerals were held on Thursday across Egypt for victims of the clashes that broke out in Port Said Stadium following a game between the Ahly and Masry teams last night. Over 70 people died and over 300 were injured in the violence. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In Sharqiya, northeast of Cairo, thousands took part in the funerals of Islam Saif Elwan, 20, who worked in an industrial company in the 10th of Ramadan City, and Mahmoud Suleiman Hassan, 19, a student in the faculty of Engineering at a university in Zagazig. The two victims were buried in a cemetery in Kafr Abu Hamad city. Mourners chanted, "We sacrifice our blood and our soul for the martyrs" and "The martyr is loved by God." In Mansura, Daqahlia governorate, thousands took part in the burial of Mahmoud Ahmed Khatir, 21, whose coffin was shrouded in an Egyptian flag. The service was held in Nasr mosque. Young people tried to block the road outside the mosque in preparation of the casket being carried out. The funeral turned into a demonstration amid chants of, "There is no God but God, and the martyr is loved by God" and "Be comfortable martyr, for we continue the struggle." In Mahalla, a large number Mahalla and Ahly Ultras congregated inside the public hospital Thursday afternoon to take part in the funeral of Al-Arabi Kamel Mohamed, 20, a member of the Ultras Ahlawy. In Alexandria, hundreds participated in the funeral of Mahmoud Abdel Rahim al-Ghandour, founder of Ultras Ahlawy in Alexandria. Participants, who included members of the April 6 Youth movement, the Kefaya movement, supporters of Alexandria's Ittihad sporting club and Ghandour's colleagues, demanded retribution. Hundreds of the supporters of Alexandria's Ittihad sporting club, Ahly and Zamalek teams organized a protest that blocked the Corniche in protest of the Port Said clashes. The protestors raised the flags of the Ultras of Zamalek and Ahly, chanting slogans including, "There is no God but God and the martyr is loved by God" and "Either we die like them, or we get their rights." The blockade resulted in verbal clashes with drivers. The protestors demanded that the military council be held to account for the massacre and urged a vote of no confidence against the government of Kamal al-Ganzouri. They announced plans to hold a march carrying coffins to the headquarters of the northern military zone in Sidi Gaber demanding that the military council hand over power to civilians immediately. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm. |
31 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/hundreds-cairo-protest-after-port-said-football-tragedy | Hundreds have blocked the Nile Corniche in front of the Maspero state television building to protest the violence following a football match Wednesday in Port Said, which left at least 71 football fans dead. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Riots broke out at the Port Said football stadium following a rare win by the local team, Masry, against Egypt's leading squad, Ahly. Thousands of hardcore football fans, known as ultras, supporting Masry swarmed the pitch following the victory and clashed with Al-Ahly Ultras, causing the deaths and hundreds of injuries, according to the Health Ministry. Relatives and friends of the victims marched to the TV building from Cairo's Ramses train station, where they had been waiting for fans returning from Port Said. At the station, nearly 10,000 Al-Ahly Ultras received their fellow fans early Thursday, and demanded the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, be executed. Ahly fans were accompanied by supporters of their arch-rival, Zamalek, at the protest, and all chanted slogans against the SCAF and Tantawi. Thousands of demonstrators from nearby Tahrir Square also joined the protest, which halted traffic in front of Maspero. Dozens of Ahly Ultras also marched in the square itself, chanting angrily and demanding retribution for their dead comrades. Emad Eddin Hussein, the managing editor of the independent Al-Shorouk daily, said protesters prevented him, TV commentators and other reporters from entering the Maspero building. In a radio interview, Hussein voiced solidarity with the demonstrators and held the Interior Ministry responsible for the crisis. Protesters said their numbers are likely to grow throughout the day Thursday, adding that they intend to organize marches from Tahrir to the Interior Ministry and the cabinet building, both of which are located near the square. Several activists and politicians are holding the SCAF and interim government responsible for the disaster, while others are blaming vestiges of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak. In reference to the violence, reform advocate and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that the failure to restructure Egypt's security services is a crime against the country. After receiving the returning Ahly players at an air force base east of Cairo on Thursday, Tantawi told reporters that attempts to undermine Egypt's stability are doomed to fail. He urged Egyptians to find the perpetrators behind the violence. "We want people to take part and not stand still. The ones who did this are individuals known to the Egyptian people. And the Egyptian people should not let them go." However, he did not specify the identity of those he was referring to. In a phone call to the Ahly club's satellite channel, Tantawi denied reports that the government had removed Port Said's governor and security chief. "I have ordered an investigation and we will find out who caused the tragic incident," he told the channel. Tantawi added that the Interior Ministry is "doing its duty" in securing football matches. "We are implementing a road map to transfer power to an elected civilian government, and we have already managed to secure the parliamentary elections," he said. |
32 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/political-forces-push-cabinets-removal | A number of political and activist groups and presidential hopefuls demanded Thursday that the People's Assembly withdraw confidence from the government of interim Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, after violence at a football match Wednesday night left at least 71 dead. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Riots broke out following a football match in Port Said between Masry, the local club, and Ahly, a Cairo-based team. Thousands of hardcore football fans, known as ultras, supporting Masry stormed the field following their team's rare victory and clash with Ahly Ultras, leaving at least 313 injured, according to the Health Ministry. According to the Interim Constitution, the Parliament does not have the jurisdiction to withdraw confidence from the cabinet. The politicians and activists want a new government that will genuinely work toward achieving the demands of the 25 January revolution, liberal Wafd Party head Al-Sayed al-Badawy said, reading a joint statement following a three-hour meeting at the party's headquarters. Representatives from the Free Egyptians, Democratic Front, Wasat, and Reform and Development parties and the National Association for Change, as well as lawmakers and activists, attended the meeting. Presidential hopefuls Hazem Abu Ismail and Ayman Nour were also present. The participants unanimously declared that since the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is in charge of the country, it is fully responsible for the Port Said violence. Their statement also urged the People's Assembly to fulfill its duty to represent the people during Egypt's political transition and called for presidential elections to be held soon to end divisions among the people. The interim cabinet and the SCAF held parallel meetings Thursday morning to discuss the Port Said riots. They are seeking possible solutions to alleviate public outrage over their leadership and demands to prosecute SCAF head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. The state-run Middle East News Agency said all of the SCAF's members attended the meeting to discuss the consequences of the tragedy. The council's official Facebook page has decried public outrage with the military council since the Port Said violence. "Support your armed forces and police services, be their shield until they fulfill their mission and restore security and stability," read an administrator's post on the page. Ganzouri also met with his cabinet's security committee, with Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abouelnaga, Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed, Manpower and Immigration Minister Fathy Fekry and Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab all in attendance, according to MENA. Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim spoke to the media before both meetings, defending the performance of security forces during the stadium rampage. Ibrahim told the satellite channel Modern Sport that the events were planned in advance by fans. "It was not expected that the fans would storm the pitch after their team won the game," the minister said, in an attempt to justify security forces' inaction. |
33 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/port-said-violence-was-work-infiltrators-not-ultras-say-locals | PORT SAID - Port Said residents are adamant that the violence at Wednesday's football match here was caused by infiltrators, not hardcore local football fans. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); A handful of supporters of the Masry Football Club, which beat Cairo's leading team Ahly 3-1 before the violence began, told Egypt Independent Thursday that what happened the day before was the premeditated work of infiltrators taking advantage of an intentional security vacuum. They pointed out that the gate between the stands and the pitch was left open, while at the same time the exit to the area where Ahly fans were sitting was kept closed. At least 71 people died and more than 300 were injured in the violence Wednesday night. Thousands of people gathered outside the Port Said governor's headquarters by late afternoon, chanting, "Port Said is innocent!" and "This is the truth," blaming security forces for the deadly violence. "This is a conspiracy. We wouldn't do this to our brothers," said Mohamed Abdel Fattah, standing outside of the governor's office. "The Ahly supporters were predominantly from Port Said. My brother was one of them. Port Said is sad today; all residents of the city are sad and feel as if their own relatives have died." Thousands gathered outside the Ahly club's headquarters in Zamalek, Cairo Thursday afternoon to protest the security forces' failure to intervene and prevent the Port Said violence. News emerged from the People's Assembly Thursday that the Port Said governor resigned in response to the tragedy. The resignation came amid rising calls for accountability for the stadium disaster. A coalition of political groups and individuals issued a statement early Thursday demanding the People's Assembly withdraw confidence from the interim cabinet headed by Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri. And later in the day, the April 6 Youth Movement and Popular Campaign to Support Mohamed ElBaradei called on Egyptians to engage in civil disobedience until 11 February to try to force the ruling military council from power. A number of experts and human rights advocates have accused Egypt's ruling military of complicity in the violence. Amr Hashem Rabia from the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was complicit in the events through inaction. Journalist Saad Hagras also accused the SCAF and remnants of the former regime of involvement, telling Al-Masry Al-Youm that the incident was the result of a plot made in advance. Bahey Eddin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, blamed the SCAF's lack of genuine desire to reform security services for the ongoing security void. Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the SCAF has been working to sow division among Egyptians, stressing that the military council is the principal beneficiary of the current events. Additional reporting by Al-Masry Al-Youm. |
34 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/regime-gets-back-port-said | Security officers in plain clothes are reported to have roamed Port Said chasing revolutionaries, accusing them of inciting last night's organized violence in the football stadium, which left more than 70 Ahly Club fans (Ultras) dead and thousands injured. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In order to understand the massacre that happened last night, and the responsibility of the state security apparatus, we need to look deeper at what has been happening in Port Said before and after the 25 January revolution. Since the revolution, Port Said has become a city void of any security. Paid thugs, or what could be referred to as the regime's militia, roam the city looting, kidnapping and blackmailing the residents. Any organized crime becomes extremely easy in such an environment, dominated by armed gangs and drug dealers, a situation that has greatly impoverished the city's residents. The city's location as a port north of the Suez Canal makes it vulnerable to such crime and the state security forces have intentionally left the city defenseless. Those who entered the stadium yesterday with the intention of provoking such violence are the same thugs who have been terrorizing the city's residents this past year; thugs who have been kidnapping girls and elders for ransom money, without any police deterrence. The state security and police's responsibility is not only confined to being incompetent and unwilling to perform their duty to protect the people - they played an active role in orchestrating last night's massacre. Several eyewitness accounts say that police opened the stadium gates for the Masry club supporters (mostly from Port Said), inciting them to clash with the Ahly Ultras. But why would the police do such a thing? Some have argued that the police were taking revenge on the Ahly Ultras for their repeated defiance of state security brutality during the revolution. But it is worth considering that the police were getting back at Port Said's residents themselves. Recently, city residents refused to welcome Alexandria's head of security, who was in office during the murder of Khaled Saeed (Saeed's torture at the hands of the police was central in mobilizing people in the months leading up to the revolution). On 20 January, a new head of security was appointed in Port Said, who oversaw last night's massacre in retaliation for the city's revolutionary stance. But the enmity between Port Said's residents and state security predates the revolution. After Mubarak's attempted assassination in Port Said in 1999, there was a systematic policy to ruin the city. Port Said had thrived on being a duty-free zone north of the Suez Canal. Port Said's economy sank following the alleged assassination attempt due to state policies that aimed to end the city's status as a duty-free zone. This has left many unemployed; some have been forced to make a living off of being paid thugs for state security. This time around, the state thugs who orchestrated the massacre abused football fanaticism to turn other Egyptians against Port Said's residents, holding them responsible for the massacre. In recent years, the regime has incited sectarian clashes to create a state of chaos that would put an end to the revolutionary path. This time football fanaticism was the fuel the regime and its security apparatus used to pit Egyptians against each other. Pro-Mubarak sports television hosts have contributed to this incitement, as they have not stopped blaming the revolution for the violence. After yesterday's tragedy, residents of Port Said are the ones paying the price. They spent last night in tears. They have also queued in front of hospitals to donate their blood for the victims. Port Said is my hometown, and I am also an Ahly Club fan. I know how much the residents of this city cherish life and that they would never murder Egypt's youth. What happened yesterday is the work of the criminal state security, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces must be held responsible. Fayrouz Karawya is an independent artist, writer and researcher. |
35 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-football-fans-target-ruling-generals | Some of the Egyptian football fans who had a front-line role in toppling former President Hosni Mubarak have a new target - the man who replaced him at Egypt's helm, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); "We want your head, you traitor Tantawi. You could have carved your name in history, but you were arrogant and you believed Egypt and its people could take a step back and forget their revolution," the Ultras Tahrir Square (UTS), a group of football fans, wrote on its Facebook page. The rage of these ultras, as dedicated football supporters are known, was sparked by a pitch invasion on Wednesday after a match between Port Said's Masry and rival Ahly of Cairo, Egypt's most successful club. In the violence that ensued, at least 71 people were killed and at least 313 were injured. For the ultras, as for many politicians and ordinary Egyptians, the anger was not that football fans clashed but that security forces appeared to have done little to stop them. It has added to the mounting frustration at the army's failure to restore law and order almost a year after taking charge. "Today, the marshal and the remnants of the regime send us a clear message. We either have our freedom or they punish us and execute us for participating in a revolution against tyranny," the group said in the statement, quickly circulated online. Residents of Port Said, as well as some politicians and ultras themselves, feel the group was the target. "Ultras are very popular and respected among the revolutionaries," said 45-year-old Port Said trader Ahmed Badr. "The ultras were the target (on Wednesday). This was a setup for them, a massacre. The military council and the security forces are the only parties held accountable for such events." Battle-front Ultras employed years of experience dealing with police at matches to devastating effect against Mubarak's security forces when they used heavy-handed tactics to try to crush the revolt. The ultras are not a single, coherent body. Major football clubs each have their own ultras fan groups, such as Ultras Ahlawy or Ultras White Knights, fans of Zamalek, another major Egyptian football club. UTS, which said Tantawi was in its crosshairs, is a group of fans from various clubs who united in Tahrir Square, the focus for revolutionary campaigning. Daring cat-and-mouse tactics by ultras, often teenagers or men in their early 20s, and steadfastness at front-line barricades under tear gas and rubber bullets wore the police down until they cracked. Within days of the anti-Mubarak uprising erupting, the police were replaced by the army. Since then, ultras have stayed at the battle-front, scuffling with the army and police, in the upsurges of violence since Mubarak's downfall in and around Tahrir, where protesters have demanded the army hand over power immediately to civilians. Ultras for months chanted in stadiums against the army, sending their message into people's living rooms as ordinary Egyptians turn on their televisions to watch matches. Many Egyptians, though worried by lax security, still feel the army is still the best placed to keep order. "Military police, you are dogs like the Interior Ministry. Write it on the prison's walls, down down with military rule," one chant they coined rings through stadiums. Football fans on Thursday reflected the hardening lines. "The people want the execution of the field marshal," thousands of Egyptians chanted at Cairo's main train station early on Thursday as fans returned from the Port Said match. Mourning Responding to the violence, Tantawi said the army would not let anything derail the transition, which the military says means handing over power to civilians before the end of June. He also vowed to track down the culprits of Wednesday's violence. An army statement announced three days of national mourning. Ultras Ahlawy responded with a statement on one of their Facebook pages saying that mourning should not be just for the dead but "for everyone who lost his morals, mourning for everyone who sold his soul, mourning for everyone who did not care for the country." The violence flared on Wednesday after Ahly fans unfurled banners insulting Port Said's Masry. One man went onto the pitch carrying an iron bar at the end of the match, which Masry won 3-1. Masry fans reacted by pouring onto the pitch and attacking Ahly players before attacking fans on the terraces. The police appeared to have no ability to stop it. "For the first time in the history of matches between these two teams, we did not find police officers or state security. Police withdraw from the stadium and yes, your plot is as clear to us as daylight," the UTS group said in its statement. Echoing condemnation by politicians, presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi said those killed in Port Said were victims of "systematic chaos". He said: "What happened was black vengeance against the Ultras because of their role in the revolution." |
36 | 2012-02-02 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/update-clashes-near-interior-ministry-after-marches-against-port-said-massacre-military-rule | Riot police fired tear gas at protesters Thursday evening as thousands of people swarmed streets surrounding the Ministry of Interior to protest what they see as police complicity in the violence in Port Said yesterday that left 74 people dead. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); Clashes are taking place on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the scene of a fierce five-day-long battle last November. At the time, the military built a large concrete wall to block protesters. People are now in the process of dismantling the wall. Electricity was cut off on Mansour Street, another street leading to the Interior Ministry, and fires are being set to light up the street, according to an Al-Masry Al-Youm report. A field hospital has been set up and the majority of the injured are suffering from asphyxiation as a result of tear gas inhalation. The Health Ministry released a statement saying that there have not been serious injuries from the clashes, "only minor ones from teargas or thrown stones." The ministry said 388 people have been injured, and that 266 received treatment in the area while the rest were referred to nearby hospitals. The scene is reminiscent of other clashes between protesters and security forces in November and December, with protesters forming human chains to ensure that ambulances carrying the injured to the field hospital can get through the crowds. Ambulance workers had been on strike, but an estimated 70 percent have returned to work to help those injured in the clashes. Motorcycles are being used to transport the injured. Demonstrations are also taking place in Tahrir Square and in the Maspero area. Protesters surrounded a Central Security Forces truck carrying new recruits on Talaat Harb Street in downtown Cairo. The driver of the truck fled, leaving the recruits behind in the crowd. Protesters provoked riot police earlier in the evening, with some throwing rocks and a few brandishing tasers. The clashes began after thousands of people, many of them hardcore football fans known as Ultras, marched from the Ahly Club in Zamalek into downtown Cairo to protest the violence at a football match in Port Said on Wednesday. The march broke into two smaller parts when it reached Tahrir Square, with one headed for the Interior Ministry and the other aiming for the nearby People's Assembly building. Protesters chanted slogans against the ruling military junta, which they hold responsible for Wednesday's deadly events. Three members of Parliament joined the protest earlier on: Amr Hamzawy, an independent liberal and Ziad al-Elaimy and Mohamed Abu Hamed of the liberal Egyptian Bloc coalition. Abu Hamed and Elaimy both said they will resign if no one is prosecuted for the incident within a week. It is unclear if the MPs left after the clashes started. Upon arrival to Tahrir Square, some tried to convince the march not to head to the Interior Ministry in order to avoid bloodshed. Some ultras insisted on heading to the ministry and a few attempted to bring down the wall erected in November on Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Some protesters removed the barbed wire blocking the way to the Interior Ministry and threw rocks at the security forces. Others formed a human shield separating the two sides to avoid violence and chanted, "Peaceful." The protesters held the ruling military council responsible for the violence and demanded the prosecution of its Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Some protesters also demanded Tantawi's execution. The Interior Ministry released a statement warning demonstrators against "creating chaos," saying that the ministry "appeals to the honorable people of Egypt to listen to the voice of reason and uphold the interests of the country in order to achieve the goals of the revolution," Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. Among a noticeably weak security presence, fans of the Masry team attacked fans of the Ahly team after winning the game yesterday. Echoing a widely held belief that the violence was orchestrated for political motives the protesters chanted, "This is not a sports incident, this is a military massacre." Mohamed Abdel Hamid, who was injured in yesterday's violence, accused the police of conspiring with those who attacked the Ahly fans to punish the ultras for criticizing Field Marshal Tantawi. "They left us to be slaughtered and didn't do anything," he said. Abdel Hamid added that the protesters don't want to storm the Interior Ministry; they only want the rights of those who were killed. "We all understand that what happened had nothing to do with a soccer match," said Rasha Ibrahim, a 21-year-old protester. "We are protesting today to tell the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that this is your end. You will leave. They killed too many people." |
37 | 2012-02-03 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-protesters-besiege-interior-ministry | Protesters laid siege to Egypt's Interior Ministry on Friday, extending a rally against the military-led government into a second day in a show of anger triggered by the deaths of 74 people in the country's worst football disaster. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); In separate clashes in the city of Suez, two protesters were killed as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, witnesses said. Demonstrations erupted in Egypt this week following deaths at a football stadium in Port Said as the football incident turned quickly into a political crisis. Protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible for the bloodshed. In Cairo, several thousand protesters remained in the streets around the ministry as night fell. The only vehicles in the usually congested downtown area were largely ambulances that ferried away casualties from clashes with police. Underlining the tension, ambulances had to intervene to extract riot police whose truck took a wrong turn into a street full of protesters, a Reuters witness said. Protesters surrounded the vehicle for at least 45 minutes, rocking it while the police were inside. Some of the demonstrators then formed a human corridor to help them escape. Close to 400 people were wounded in confrontations that erupted late on Thursday, the Health Ministry said, many of them suffering the effects of inhaling tear gas fired by riot police who the Interior Ministry said were protecting the building. Rocks thrown by protesters were strewn across streets that two months ago witnessed violent clashes between police and activists who see the Interior Ministry as an unreformed vestige of former President Hosni Mubarak's rule. "We are not going to leave this time," said Sami Adel, a 23-year-old member of the ultras, a group of football fans known for confronting police. They have regularly been on the front lines of clashes with security forces over the last year. Security forces fired tear gas into the night to drive back protesters, who then regrouped ready for more. "The crimes committed against the revolutionary forces will not stop the revolution or scare the revolutionaries," said a pamphlet printed in the name of the ultras. In Suez, witnesses said fighting broke out at a local police station in the early hours of Friday. "We received two corpses of protesters shot dead by live ammunition," said a doctor at a morgue where the bodies were kept. A witness said: "Protesters are trying to break into the Suez police station and police are now firing live ammunition." The football stadium deaths have heaped new criticism on the military council, which has governed Egypt since Mubarak stepped down a year ago in the face of mass protests. Critics regard them as part of his administration and an obstacle to change. The army leadership, in turn, has presented itself as the guardian of the 25 January revolution. It has promised to hand power to an elected president by the end of June. Interior minister blames fans At least 1,000 people were injured in the football violence when fans invaded the pitch after local Port Said team Masry beat Cairo-based Ahly, the most successful club in Africa. Hundreds of Masry supporters surged across the pitch to the visitors' end and panicked Ahly fans dashed for the exit. But the steel doors were bolted shut and dozens were crushed to death in the stampede, witnesses said. The cause of the violence has been the focus of intense speculation. Some believe it was triggered by unknown provocateurs working for remnants of the Mubarak administration who are seeking to sabotage the transition to democracy. Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the fans started it. "The events started with provocations between the Ahly and Masry crowds, then insults, until it ended up with those sorrowful events," he told the Egyptian TV station CBC during a telephone interview. Ibrahim was widely blamed for the deaths during an emergency parliamentary session on Thursday. MPs, including the Islamists who control some 70 percent of the chamber, called for him to be held to account and accused him of negligence. Safwat Zayat, an analyst, said the incident had done further damage to the image of the ruling military council. "The current events push in the direction of speeding up the transfer of power to civilians," Zayat told Reuters. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council, responded to the deaths by vowing that Egypt would remain stable. "We have a roadmap to transfer power to elected civilians," he said in broadcast remarks. |
38 | 2012-02-03 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/port-said-fans-blame-security-infiltrators-match-violence | PORT SAID - Despite a biting wind the sun shone brightly on Port Said Thursday, and if not for the people out in droves in front of the governorate building and marching around the city, no one would guess that unprecedented violence had occurred here just the day before. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); The residents of Port Said came out in force Thursday, insisting that the violence in the city's football stadium the night before was something they vehemently condemned, and placing blame for the incident squarely on the shoulders of security forces and local authorities. The stadium itself still sports debris from Wednesday night's riots, in which 74 people lost their lives in riots after a match between the local team, Masry and Cairo's leading team, Ahly. Strewn across the ground are rocks and shoes people left behind as they ran for their lives. Trouble brewed in Port Said Stadium early on in the match Wednesday evening, as fans taunted each other and held up provocative signs. Yet the game continued, and after the final whistle fans stormed the pitch and chased rival supporters up the bleachers. "The situation was very strange," said member of Ultras Masrawy, a group of hardcore fans supporting the city's Masry club, Ahmed Yasser, "to see people dead at a football game. Someone who leaves his house to watch a football match and never comes back, this is something unheard of, I cried all night. This could never come from us." City residents and football supporters insist that the stands were infiltrated and that the riots were premeditated, pointing to glaring security lapses throughout the game. Ultra members from both teams had met with the stadium security head and Masry club president Kamel Abu Ali before the match and agreed that there should be no violence. The ultras point to this meeting as proof that they had no intention of stirring up any trouble during the game. "We usually gather before the game and go sit in our usual place," Yasser said. "When we went there this time we found others there. We usually tell them to leave and this time we did but they said, 'no,' and we didn't want to cause trouble so we sat somewhere else." From then on, Yasser and others pointed to a series of security failures. "There was a massive security lapse," said Masry fan Islam al-Sayed. "We saw the supporters storm the pitch and security forces did nothing to stop it. We're accustomed to some trouble happening at games but not like this, not where people will die. At most there is some stone-throwing after the game." In a precursor of what was to come, fans took to the pitch at halftime in a precursor of what was to come. And curiously, the gates between the stands and the pitch were left open. Some witnesses said that the exits at the back of the stands housing the Ahly ultras were closed. To make things even worse, the stadium lights went out after the match finished. "The gates have always been locked ever since I've been attending the games. They were open this time," Yasser said. Masry supporters admit that they stormed the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate, but they claim they did not chase after the Ahly fans and players. Another Masry ultra, Mohamed Adel, said, "We were ecstatic with the result [Masry won 3-1]; I did go onto the pitch to celebrate with my team. When we saw what was happening near the Ahly stands we ran to form a cordon at the bottom and prevent more people from going up." During the second half, Masry fans were provoked by a banner unfurled at the Ahly end casting doubt on the manhood of Port Said residents. "The banner provoked us," Yasser said, "so when we scored the third goal supporters celebrated on the pitch. Missiles [fireworks] were exchanged between us." "At the end of the game there was one gate that was broken and another one that was already opened. You find the gates open in front of you so of course everybody went down," Sayed said. "Some went to celebrate on the pitch. The others - the infiltrators - ran past to chase the Ahly fans. We won the game, why would we attack them?" Adel also proposed the infiltrator theory, saying that at halftime four buses arrived outside the stadium and unloaded people who took to the stands wearing green Masry shirts. It was they who chased the Ahly supporters, Sayed contended, and "when we saw what was happening we tried to block them at the foot of the pitch in front of the stands." All of the Masry goals were accompanied by fan invasions of the pitch. The chaos that ensued after the game was difficult to fathom, with Ahly fans finding themselves stuck in a congested area, causing many to suffocate. Others were killed by direct assaults and some even attempted to jump or fell off the top of the stands. The next day, thousands protested in the streets of Port Said insisting that the violence was not the work of its residents. They pointed out that the governor and head of security were absent from the match, which was uncommon for games against Ahly. Many agreed that those who attacked the Ahly supporters were not regular Masry ultras. Others mentioned that many of the Ahly fans at the game also hailed from Port Said. The insistent belief that this was the handiwork of infiltrators may seem like a city desperate to exonerate itself from the massacre. But the strange security lapses at the match do raise questions. Many who attended the match claimed that level of security outside the stadium was actually much smaller than usual. All of this feeds the belief that security forces were somehow involved in at least allowing matters to escalate to such a degree. "Are you trying to convince me that the police and the military can secure parliamentary elections involving 27 million people and they can't secure two stands with a few thousand people?" Yasser asked. "Tantawi is Mubarak." |
39 | 2012-02-03 | https://www.egyptindependent.com/ultras-politics-fun-confront-tyranny | Wednesday's massacre of Ahly Club fans in Port Said's football stadium was the latest in a tragic crescendo for young Egyptians who continue to clash heavily with Egypt's Central Security Forces. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488287610204-3'); }); And though the clashes have been continually analyzed since they began in January of last year, in my opinion the most important factor has yet to be discussed. I believe we are witnessing a natural development in an inevitable conflict between two parties that have found themselves following two different paradigms of life: the paradigm of depression, control and normalization of apathy, versus that of joyful liberation from the shackles of social and institutional norms to create gratifying chaos. The latter is what I call the politics of fun. This conflict between two rhythms of life - one so dim it fails to realize its own fragility, stagnation and gradual extinction, and the other so young and full of life that it fails to realize the revolutionary consequences of its actions - is a useful one, and should be allowed to grow. In fact, the chaos of the ultras, Egypt's hardcore football fans, may play the role of waking up Egypt's middle class, which continues to adhere to the myth of stability. Some experts say that the ultras are a non-political group and their political power remains limited and so the entire phenomenon is not worthy of consideration. In response, I recall the following: When the 25 January revolution erupted, observers discovered that the only organized group in Egypt with the combative experience to deal with Central Security Forces and the Ministry of Interior was the ultras, not the Muslim Brotherhood, the April 6 Youth Movement or the National Assembly for Change. They had mastered attack and defense strategies that helped reduce losses. They knew how to sustain active resistance. This became clear in the prominent roles they played in the battles of Qasr al-Nil Bridge, Ramses Street and the "Battle of the Camel." Their history of continual confrontation with the oppressive Ministry of Interior was thus proved to be exceptional revolutionary action. The 25 January revolution was, in essence, a fast moving, intrepid coup against a rigid and dim rhythm of life. It's true that the Mubarak regime's failed economic policies and oppression by police forces were the two most prominent reasons behind the popular uprising from a political perspective, but the movement also needed a bold adventurous spirit defiant of social norms to translate the feelings and expectations of the Egyptian people into huge popular protest. The ultras' politics of fun provided this, and thus shaped the spirit of the Egyptian revolution. Ultras' origins The ultras phenomenon can be analyzed from two perspectives: the development of Egyptian football and sports fans' traditions, or of youth culture during the last decade. During the 1980s and 90s, cheering for football teams was simple and primitive. Football fans were either "professional" supporters, characterized as extensions of the football club's administrative entity or linked with one of the prominent football stars - hence likely to be steered- or the recreational type, who headed to the football match after work or on Fridays hoping for a couple of hours' entertainment. But the most important feature of the period was that rooting for football teams was detached from any broader emotional, social or organizational attitudes. The globalization of football in the late 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium marked the birth of a new era for football in Egypt, characterized by the establishment of a broad football viewership with a range of rooting styles and values. This new football industry in Egypt, driven by market demand, also provided high profitability, opportunities for money laundering, advertising, and the circulation of financial resources. This emerging market was invariably bound to depend on young fans as consumers of the language, behavior and tools of the new globalized football era. It was in this environment that ultra groups came to life. Ultras first appeared in Latin America and Mediterranean European Countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and the Balkans. In the Arab world, they began in Tunisia, and were soon followed by the appearance of ultras for the major Egyptian football clubs, beginning with the Ultras Ahlawy, Zamalek's Ultras White Knights and Ismaily's Ultras Blue Dragons, and smaller regional clubs such as Port Said's Ultras Masry. The revolutionary significance of the ultras phenomenon did not appear until 2007, when a series of clashes with security authorities began both in football stadiums and on the streets. Vandalism and violence also began to escalate between different clubs' ultras. The key to understanding the ultras phenomenon is to imagine it as a way of life for these youth - for them, becoming a football fan became a symbolic action that was both joyful and a means of self-expression. But the broader social, psychological and cultural contexts were unable to adapt to the groups' activities, by virtue of their rebellious nature and their defiance of norms. Ultras' contributions to revolutionary efforts The ultras can be described as having the following characteristics, from which the current protest movement has and continues to benefit: 1. Dynamism Rooting for a team is a dynamic process, which includes supporting the team on the pitch, glorifying its achievements and defending it against its opponents. It is driven by a vague emotional code, which encourages an emotional attachment to the team. Winning or losing does not affect the group's faith or cohesion. For example, the successive victories of Al-Ahly team did not relax the Ultras Ahlawy's drive, just as Zamalek's successive losses did nothing to discourage the Ultras White Knights. Frustration never gets the best of them. 2. Flexibility Organization is at the core of the ultras phenomenon, as practical necessity for managing the movement of fans with their teams to the various cities. Ultras remain proud of their group identity but at the same time members are free to be active in the streets as long as it does not conflict with the group's purpose. This includes political activism. On 25 January, for example, the ultras did not initially join the protests as a group, but gave members the freedom to join on an individual basis. When it became clear that it was a revolution that involved major confrontations with security forces, the ultras made the decision to join as a group on 28 January 2011, called the Friday of Anger. 3. Positive attitude Ultras have always taken the initiative while attempting to outdo the cheering activities of the opposing team's supporters. From here came the term"cortege," which was adapted from the street war terminology of Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina. It means going out in demonstrations as a show of power in the opponents' areas of influence away from the stadium. Cortege sometimes leads to violence. 4. Refusal of patriarchy and traditionalism The ultras refuse the tutelage of club heads when it comes to the determining what to do and what not to do. Most football clubs are institutions based on patriarchy and elitism. Ultras youth not only love their clubs, but also are not afraid to criticize a team's policies. One historic development in Ahly's case was Ultras Ahlawy's constant criticism of the policies of the club's board with respect to its contracts with the players, coaches and management team. The rebellious nature of the ultras also rejects puritanical ethical standards regarding "obscene insults", and the prevention of girls from attending the games. They also adopt unusual clothing and behavior that defy norms. 5. Group mentality Despite the ultras' popularity and their important role during the revolution, none of their leaders have a media presence. These figures remain anonymous to outsiders. This appears to be a deliberate policy that can be explained by the ultras' desire to uphold a group mentality (against the mass media's traditional tendencies to create stars and to deal with representatives of phenomena). This secrecy cannot be compared to that of Masonic lodges - as perceived in some sensationalist cheap media coverage of Ultras - but is more comparable to the libertarian privacy that sets limits for itself against sensational media coverage. 6. Rebellion The ultras define themselves as rebellious. Not only do they confront competitors in the form of sports teams and administrations, they also revolt against the sports media, which is permanently and aggressively biased against them. The ultras also revolt against the Ministry of Interior, which is an organized, oppressive, brutal entity that does its best to ruin their fun for no good reason. The ministry has continually stepped up attacks on the fan groups as they have gained numbers and influence. Due to the nature of its composition and its military mentality, the Ministry of Interior was not able to accept the idea of an organized group of several thousand members that is capable of mobilizing young people independent of any authority or guidance. The ultras' insistence on continuing in their ways, despite the growing crackdown on them - which reached the point of imprisonment, arresting people in their homes and excessive inspections on entering stadiums (instigated directly by the media) - only provoked police officers further. In response, the ultras' actions became more symbolic, their banners including rebellious political statements. Confrontation was inevitable, and ultras' found it during the 25 January revolution. Future for Egypt's ultras In the wake of the ministry's collapse following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, the ultras have been the least responsive to media demands to turn a new page with the police forces. On the contrary, the Ultras Ahlawy and Ultras White Knights began writing songs and chants focusing on two things: the overwhelming and humiliating defeat of the Ministry of Interior by the ultras, and criticizing the institution itself by making fun of officers' poor educational levels and the corruption inside its administration. Following the 25 January revolution, the Ministry of Interior has again displayed retaliatory tendencies and the ultras have taken them on as an existential battle. Furthermore, the situation was expected to escalate following rumors that the government intends to control the numbers and "types" of fans attending football games. After Wednesday's massacre of the Ultras Ahlawy, I wonder about the ultras' future. Today, they and many Egyptians are fuming against national security and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, who are widely perceived as responsible for the deaths of those joyful and defiant young people. The deaths of so many young football fans marks a turning point in the story of Egypt's ultras and I wonder whether this tragedy will provoke them to develop their strategies and combat mechanisms so as to play an even more direct political and social role in the future. Ashraf El-Sherif teaches at the American University in Cairo. This article was originally published in Arabic on Jadaliyya. |
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in Data Studio
Texts about Ultras from the Egyptian Independent, 2009-2020
A curated corpus of Egypt Independent articles on “Ultras” football fan groups, with publication dates, URLs, and full‑text content.
Dataset Summary
- Source: Egypt Independent search results for the term “ultras+” (39 pages of results, 9 articles per page).
- Period Covered: Articles published between 2009 and 2020.
- Total Records: 378 raw articles were scraped; after filtering out entries with fewer than 20 characters of main text or failed parses.
Files
EgyptIndependentUltrasTexts.csv
A csv file with the following columns:publication_date— Date the article was published (YYYY‑MM‑DD).url— Full URL of the original Egypt Independent article.text— UTF‑8 text extracted from the article’s main content container.
Data Fields
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| publication_date | Date | Publication date. |
| url | string | "https://www.egyptindependent.com/" + article specific URL |
| text | string | Main body text, whitespace‑collapsed, non‑ASCII characters replaced. |
Paper Reference
Connor T. Jerzak. Football fandom in Egypt. Routledge Handbook of Sport in the Middle East, pages 196-207, Oxfordshire, UK, 2022. Routledge. Danyel Reiche and Paul Brannagan (eds.) [PDF] | [BibTeX]
@inproceedings{jerzak2022football,
title={Football fandom in Egypt},
author={Jerzak, Connor T.},
booktitle={Routledge Handbook of Sport in the Middle East},
year={2022},
volume={},
pages={196-207},
publisher={Routledge},
address={Oxfordshire, UK}
}
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