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Doctors Syndicate calls for release of military doctor

by admin

August 30th, 2012

The Doctors Syndicate called on the Morsy administration Thursday to immediately release Armed Forces doctor Amr Metwally, who was sentenced to five years in prison for participating in a protest against military rule in Tahrir Square last November.

The syndicate's freedoms committee formed a delegation to visit Metwally's family and discuss ways to press for Metwally’s release, stressing that he has not violated a military order for his detention.

“We call on President Mohamed Morsy to interfere for the immediate release of Metwally, especially as he has a good reputation and is known for his good behavior,” said rapporteur of the freedoms committee Abdallah al-Kariony.

Metwally joined the Military Academy in 2009. He is a doctor captain and was assigned by the Armed Forces to work in its field hospital at the Shura Council, Kariony said.

The military intelligence arrested Metwally when he was in Tahrir Square with protesters outside of his official working hours.

Kariony said the Doctors Syndicate rejected Metwally’s five-year sentence, describing it as “cruel.”

“The detained doctor has not violated military orders. He announced solidarity with the revolution and its objectives after the military council, his leaders, announced the same thing,” he added.

A military tribunal on 4 April sentenced Metwally to five years in prison for joining protesters who were calling for a swift handover of power to civilians in Cairo last November.

The court charged the officer with abandoning military orders and refusing to be summoned to his unit. He was also charged with discussing politics and appearing on satellite channels without obtaining permission.

He was further charged with wearing the camouflage military uniform outside his military unit, being absent from his unit from 28 November until 8 December, and joining protesters.

News reports said Metwally issued a statement on 24 November on behalf of the officers in Tahrir in which he called for the dismissal of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and for their trial “for humiliating the military institution and killing protesters.” He also called for handing over power to a civilian presidential council.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: the Doctors Syndicate, military orders, Armed Forces, Tahrir Square

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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ElBaradei hails Morsy’s military reshuffle, Sahry rules out People’s Assembly revival

by admin

August 13th, 2012

Egyptian political activist and former IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei has lauded the decision by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy to force Defense Minister and former interim ruler Hussein Tantawi and army Chief of Staff Sami Anan into retirement.

ElBaradei, founder of the nascent Constitution Party, said in a tweet on Monday that that ending military rule is a step in the right direction. However, he added that Morsy’s reclamation of legislative as well as executive powers from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces should be temporary, saying that it would otherwise be at odds with the essence of democracy.

Besides removing both generals, Morsy decided also on Sunday to revoke the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Tantawi, in mid-June. The supplement sharply curtailed the power of the president and came on the heels of a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling dissolving the People’s Assembly of Parliament.

ElBaradei also urged for more attention to the reformation of the Constituent Assembly, which has been working on drafting Egypt’s new constitution, in order to make it reflective of all social stripes, and to grant it legislative powers until a new Parliament is elected.

In related news, deputy speaker of the Shura Council Tarek al-Sahry has said that Morsy’s decision to revoke the supplementary constitutional declaration would not revive the dissolved People’s Assembly, but would instead mean that a new legislature would be elected 60 days after the adoption of a new constitution.

Sahry ruled out possible tensions between Morsy and the military or other political groups. “The president met with all army leaders and assured them [about the coming] period. He also honored those forced to retire,” he said..

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: Constitutional Declaration, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Supreme Constitutional Court, Hussein Tantawi, political activist, Shura Council Tarek al-Sahry

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Civilian detainees in military prisons reject Morsy’s committee

by admin

July 14th, 2012

Civilians detained in military prisons sent a letter to President Mohamed Morsy Saturday urging him to release them before it is too late.

"After a long wait and struggle since the revolution to overpower military rule and unfair [military] trials, and after the inauguration of an elected president who vowed to respect the judiciary by canceling military trials, we were surprised by the decision to form a vague committee that has mixed objectives and where the litigant is the arbitrator," the letter said.

"This gives legitimacy to the false trials and the extraordinary military judiciary, leading to the harm of the reputation of Egypt and its economy, as well as the humiliation of thousands of Egyptian families."

The detainees rejected the committee, which they labelled "disastrous", saying: "In our opinion the [committee] does not have a role other then absorbing the anger of the Egyptian youth, who were being dragged, beaten and tried by the military in Suez a few days ago, and were abducted in a peaceful march in Nasr City, under your rule, Mr President."

The message said thousands of citizens have been deprived of the right of litigation before a civilian normal judge.

"They were thrown into solitary dirty cells that gave them diseases, were beaten and tortured with electricity. Your sons and your daughters have been indecently assaulted in cold blood, humiliated and insulted. Their fathers and mothers have been insulted with the cheapest of all curses. It hit Egyptian military ethics at the core that they copied their brothers in crime, the [now-dissolved] State Security Investigations Service," the letter continued.

"Haven't you heard, Mr President, the cries of your tortured subjects?… Haven't you seen the screams of your sons and the weeping of your daughters, who have been indecently assaulted, whose bodies have been torn and whose blood has bled and is still bleeding, haven't you read and seen the news reports telling for months of our humiliation and suffering as well as that of our families?" it said.

They called on Morsy to visit the prisons "where those arrested since the outbreak of the revolution lie to this day."

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: military trials, Mohamed Morsy, military prisons, Egyptian military ethics, military rule

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Update: Ten of thousands rally in Tahrir

by admin

June 20th, 2012

Tens of thousands of protesters took to Tahrir Square on Tuesday night to protest the Constitutional Declaration supplement that would drastically expand the military council's authority and limit the power of the coming president.

Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the Salafi preacher who was disqualified from the presidential race in April, Abu Ismail gave an inflammatory speech to protesters in Tahrir Square, in which he described the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces as “rivals of the people,” calling on demonstrators to stay at the iconic site until the junta hands over power.

Abu Ismail said that the supplement to the interim constitution issued by the SCAF was akin to “military occupation.” He chanted, “Get out, get out!” and the masses repeated after him.

He said that he remained silent during the last few weeks out of respect for the presidential election. “Now, there is only one requirement: that the military council leaves immediately,” he said. “Otherwise, we shall take the powers the council gave itself, even if we have to die for it.”

“We will not allow the military to write the constitution,” he said. “Nor should the future of the country be in the hands of 20 people.”

“The next president will not be a puppet, nor will the people be insects smashed by the feet of the military,” he said.

A number of MPs held a session in Tahrir Square Tuesday night after police stopped them from entering the Parliament building.

“The military council had no right to dissolve Parliament,” said FJP MP Mohamed al-Beltagy, adding that the Egyptian people are waiting for Mohamed Morsy, whom he already called the president-elect, to be sworn in in Tahrir Square.

A group of Muslim Brotherhood protesters from Suez joined the demonstration in Tahrir, chanting slogans against military council head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and for the martyrs of the 25 January revolution.

Demonstrators marching to Tahrir from Maspero, the state media building, chanted, “The army is in our heart, the military council is against us” and “We swear with the martyr’s blood to have a new revolution.”

The April 6 Youth Movement led a march from the Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen to Tahrir. April 6 spokesperson Mahmoud Afify told Al-Masy Al-Youm that the movement rejects the military council’s coup and the dissolution of Parliament.

Hundreds protested at the Parliament building near Tahrir, chanting, “Down with military rule” and “Legitimacy to Parliament.” Some MPs from the dissolved Parliament joined the protest.

Former MP Mohamed al-Omda told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the MPs demand that parliamentary sessions be held to continue on the democratic path.

A march from Cairo’s Ramses Square arrived in Tahrir Tuesday evening, as did a group of Egyptians from Assiut in Upper Egypt. They raised a banner reading, “The people of Assiut reject the dissolution of Parliament” and chanted slogans against military rule.

Muslim Brotherhood members began setting up a stage and a podium for the group, one of the main participants in the demonstration.

A number of political and revolutionary forces had called for the protest. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued the Constitutional Declaration supplement as vote counting began for the presidential runoff on Sunday night.

Protesters carried Egyptian flags and chanted, “Down with military rule” and Speak up, don’t be afraid… the SCAF must leave.”

Political groups participating in the protest — including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafi Nour Party, the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, Jama’a al-Islamiya, the April 6 Youth Movement and the Revolutionary Socialists — also rejected the dissolution of Parliament and the Defense Ministry decree that allows military police to investigate and arrest civilians.

The Muslim Brotherhood mobilized thousands of its members from a number of governorates to participate in the protest.

In Sharqiya Governorate, bus stops were filled with people on their way to Cairo, while the Brotherhood provided a number of buses to transport people directly to Tahrir Square.

A Muslim Brotherhood leader in Sharqiya, Sayed Abdel Hamid, said the group “refuses the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration that prolongs the transitional period and strips away the next president’s powers.”

The FJP in Gharbiya Governorate also bussed people to Tahrir.

Mohamed al-Masry, the FJP’s secretary in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag, said that some 5,000 members of the FJP, the Construction and Development Party and the Nour Party, as well as a number of revolutionary coalitions and various political forces in Aswan and Sohag, had travelled to Cairo in order to participate in the protest.

In Kafr al-Sheikh, Ayman Hegazi, an FJP spokesman, said that hundreds of Brotherhood members, along with members of other political movements, had gone to Cairo to join the protest in Tahrir.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, military council, military rule, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Abu Ismail, Muslim Brotherhood

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Thousands march to Abbasseya, military withdraws leaving police

by admin

May 2nd, 2012

Thousands of protestors are marching in a rally that started from Fatah Mosque in Ramses Square on Thursday evening heading to Abbasseya, where 11 protesters were killed by suspected supporters of Egypt’s military rulers.

The march came as an expression of support with protesters holding a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry who have been facing continuous attacks by thugs for the past five days.

Security officials said the clashes broke out at dawn when assailants set upon several hundred protesters who had camped out in the area since early Saturday. Hospital officials said nine of the 11 killed died of gunshot wounds to the head. The other two were stabbed to death.

Political activists, members of the political movements and ordinary citizens are among the people participating in the march.

The protesters chanted slogans denouncing military rule and demanding its departure. Socialist Activist Kamal Khalil led the chants which included, “Oh Tantawi, a second revolution…Egypt will not turn into Romania,” and “Turn on the lights Bahiya, all military men are thieves.” They also chanted slogans demanding the return of the armed forces to the military barracks such as, “A Supreme Council of the Armed Forces made for Pashas must return to the barracks.”

An Egypt Independent reporter said that the march is getting a positive reaction from people in the street and the number of people joining the march is increasing.

The reporter added that Abbasseya residents are cheering for the marchers from their balconies.

Troops and police deployed in the area around the Defense Ministry had not intervened in earlier attacks there and at first did nothing to stop the killings Wednesday, leaving the clashes to continue until noon when they moved in.

But later in the afternoon, the armed forces withdrew from the Abbasseya district, leaving behind Central Security Forces and a huge security cordon around the Abbasseya bus stop, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Dozens of protesters lined up in front of the Central Security Forces, some chanting slogans such as “Down, down with military rule” and “Ganzouri is invalid…the Field Marshal is invalid.”

Tags: Defense Ministry, military rulers, military rule

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Presidential candidate puts Abbasseya dead at 20

by admin

May 2nd, 2012

With around 500 demonstrators milling around a significantly calmer Abbasseya Square late Wednesday afternoon, presidential candidate Khaled Ali visited the sit-in that has been camped out since Friday.

At least nine people are dead after a new wave of clashes between protesters and unidentified attackers using Molotov cocktails and other weapons broke out early Wednesday.

But after visiting field hospitals in the square as well as Demerdash and other hospitals around the area, Ali, a leftist lawyer, said he had personally counted 20 dead. He also anticipated the number would rise as many people are yet unaccounted for.

The sit-in began Friday as a rally of supporters of disqualified Salafi presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail and was later joined by other activists protesting military rule.

"Regardless of the reasons for the protest, it shows the fact that the revolution is always able to create a street movement whenever there is discontent and that the revolution continues and will continue," Ali told Egypt Independent.

Abdallah Kahlawy, who works on the popular campaign supporting presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, also highlighted the spectrum of people present.

"I just want to make it known this is not an Abu Ismail supporters' protest, this is against military rule and the unjust circumstances surrounding the presidential campaign," he said, referring to a controversial constitutional article that prevents Presidential Elections Commission decisions from being appealed in court.

Military police and other security forces deployed around the square, the nearby Defense Ministry and a Coptic church after a second round of fighting around 9 am.

At least 10 tanks lined the streets leading into the square from Ain Shams University and most roads were cordoned off with barbed wire.

Protesters manned the square entrances, allowing foot traffic to pass.

A march organized by the Doctors Syndicate was expected to leave from Fath Mosque downtown and head to the square at 5 pm in response to the killings.

Reporting by Mohamed Elmeshad.

Tags: Ain Shams University, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, presidential candidate, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Khaled Ali, military rule

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Update: Marches from across Cairo converge in Tahrir

by admin

April 20th, 2012

Marches from different neighborhoods in Cairo converged in Tahrir Square on Friday with the arrival of protesters from Shubra, Sayeda Zeinab, Mohandiseen, Abbasseya and Giza.

Dozens of people who had marched from Suez Governorate also arrived in Tahrir on Friday afternoon. The activists began walking to Cairo on Wednesday.

Thousands of protesters have taken to Tahrir to participate in a demonstration demanding the cancellation of Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which stipulates that the Presidential Elections Commission’s decisions cannot be challenged, protesting the interference of the military council in the constitutional drafting process, and rejecting the presidential candidacy of former regime figures.

Protesters marched from the Khazendar Mosque in the Shubra neighborhood in Cairo heading to Tahrir Square, chanting “Down with military rule.” April 6 Youth Movement activists were present at the mosque early in the morning to organize the march. They wore T-shirts bearing the phrase, “Down with military rule.”

Mostafa Mohamed, one of the march coordinators, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that members of Muslim Brotherhood and the Kefaya Movement participated in the march.

Marches to the square also departed from Istiqamah Mosque in Giza and Sayeda Zeinab Mosque in the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood of Cairo. Cairo University students joined the march from Istiqamah Mosque. The marchers chanted anti-military council slogans.

Presidential candidate Khaled Ali joined a march that began at Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen, Cairo. Thousands participated in the march, according to state-run newspaper Al-Ahram.

Another march started at the Nour Mosque in Abbasseya, Cairo, also demanding the toppling of the military council, Al-Ahram reported. The march was led by the supporters of disqualified presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail and April 6 activists, with the participation of several revolutionary groups.

Dozens of lawyers joined protesters in Tahrir after a march started at the nearby Lawyers Syndicate headquarters. The protesting lawyers demanded the Constituent Assembly be formed from outside Parliament. They also chanted slogans calling on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to approve the amendments to the political rights law that would ban former regime figures from running in the presidential election.

While leading Friday prayer in Tahrir Square, Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the imam of Omar Makram Mosque, urged all Egyptians to unite and agree on a single demand: rejecting the drafting of a new constitution under military rule.

Tens of thousands of protesters performed Friday prayers in Tahrir Square.

Shahin said that for Egypt’s sake, all political movements should unite behind one cause, adding that Friday’s protest represents a day of cohesion and aims to save the Egyptian revolution. He stressed that this Friday would be a milestone in Egypt’s history, and that Egypt will not fall.

"If those who ruled us before the 25 January revolution returned, they would not have mercy upon the people, and they would hang revolutionaries in Tahrir Square," he said.

Shahin chanted slogans including, “No constitution under military rule” and “Viva Egypt” many times during his sermon. Thousands of protesters echoed him.

After prayers were completed, protesters chanted, "The people want to execute the field marshal," "The people want to execute the president [Mubarak]," and "Leave, leave."

The April 6 Youth Movement and the Youth for Freedom and Justice Movement decided to dismantle their stages in the square after the number of stages increased to at least seven in the absence of coordination between groups participating in the protest.

Various political and activist movements had set up stages in the square, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the April 6 Youth Movement, and Abu Ismail supporters.

Mahmoud Afify, a spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the movement decided to take its stage for the sake of square unity.

Afify called on April 6 activists not to chant hostile slogans against any political movements present in the square, and not to get involved in any clashes. He also asked that protesters not approach the Interior Ministry or any police station.

The Youth for Freedom and Justice Movement said it decided to dismantle its stage due to confusing arising because of the large number of stages in the square.

Mohamed Abdallah, the April 6 Youth Movement’s head of mass citizen action, said there is an effort to unify the demands and slogans of the protest.

Popular committees tasked with securing Tahrir Square closed the entrance to the square at the Arab League headquarters and prevented cars from passing through the square from Qasr al-Nil Bridge. Street vendors have spread out through the square.

Protesters hung banners stating their demands, including "Together to protect the revolution…transferring power on 30 June," and "No to the 'remnants' [of the former regime]."

The Revolutionary Youth Parliament and the Second Revolution of Anger movement initially called for protests in the main squares of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Minya to protest the presidential candidacies of former regime figures, most notably Omar Suleiman, who has since been disqualified.

The April 6 Youth Movement joined the call and asked that all Egyptians citizens, parties and groups take part in the demonstrations. Several political powers announced their intention to participate, including Islamist factions and liberal and secular forces.

April 6 said in a statement that the protest calls for the amendment of Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration and the reformation of the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly.

The protest has been given several monikers, including, “No to writing the constitution under military rule,” "The revolution did not die,” and “Friday of protecting the revolution.”

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: Tahrir Square, Constitutional Declaration, Istiqamah Mosque, Youth Movement, constituent assembly, April 6 Youth Movement, Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque

Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Update: Marches from across Cairo head toward Tahrir

by admin

April 20th, 2012

Dozens of lawyers joined protesters in Tahrir Square on Friday after a march started at the nearby Lawyers Syndicate headquarters. The protesting lawyers demanded the Constituent Assembly be formed from outside Parliament. They also chanted slogans calling on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to approve the amendments to the political rights law that would ban former regime figures from running in the presidential election.

Thousands of protesters started a march from the Khazendar Mosque in the Shubra neighborhood in Cairo heading to Tahrir Square, chanting “Down with military rule.”

April 6 Youth Movement activists were present at the mosque early in the morning to organize the march. They wore T-shirts bearing the phrase, “Down with military rule.”

Mostafa Mohamed, one of the march coordinators, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that members of Muslim Brotherhood and the Kefaya Movement participated in the march.

Several marches are expected to converge on Tahrir Square on Friday afternoon. Marches to the square also departed from Istiqamah Mosque in Giza and Sayeda Zeinab Mosque in the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood of Cairo. Cairo University students joined the march from Istiqamah Mosque. The marchers chanted anti-military council slogans.

Presidential candidate Khaled Ali joined a march that began at Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen, Cairo. Thousands participated in the march, according to state-run newspaper Al-Ahram.

Another march started at the Nour Mosque in Abbasseya, Cairo, also demanding the toppling of the military council, Al-Ahram reported.

The march is being led by the supporters of disqualified presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail and April 6 activists, with the participation of several revolutionary groups.