5 killed in Egypt during protests on first anniversary of army coup

Five men were killed Thursday in Cairo in an explosion and clashes with police on the first anniversary of the coup that deposed Islamist State president Mohamed Morsi. Despite being severely repressed, sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood still have enough energy left to challenge the Egyptian authorities. Thousands have taken to the streets in cities around the country, reports Reuters, in demonstrations organized by a coalition of parties led by the Brotherhood. The event comes just a month after the coronation of Abdelfattah al- Sisi, the general who ran the coup and clearly won the recent presidential elections.

The most popular demonstrations have taken place in the suburbs of Cairo and Alexandria. The police, which has strengthened its security in anticipation of the protests and has sealed the iconic Tahrir Square, unceremoniously dispersed gears. Three of the victims have died in Cairo in clashes between demonstrators and security forces, security sources have reported Reuters. There has been unrest since in the exclusive district of Mohandiseen to poorer areas as Haram and Materiya. The other two victims died when a bomb exploded in a flat in Kerdasa, a western district of Cairo.

During the past year, the Brotherhood, which has dubbed the day of action as the “day of rage”, has tried to keep his pulse with the authorities on the streets. However, in recent months, police brutality has reduced the volume of the gears just several hundred people. On Thursday, the presence of protesters have been greater; have been told thousands. The results of a year of harassment is shocking: more than 2,000 people have died in clashes with security forces, while about 20,000 have been arrested, many of them tortured in police stations and prisons.

Activists and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have been the main victims of state repression, but not unique. After being designated as a “terrorist organization” last December, all activities of the fraternity have been banned, and have frozen the funds of its members and related entities.

Currently, all its top leadership, including the president Morsi, is imprisoned and facing a string of legal proceedings that may involve some heavy sentences. In fact, their spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, already has a firm to the death sentence on a macro trial that sent over 180 people to the gallows judgment. The movement, which was tolerated during the Mubarak era, did not suffer blow as more than six decades.

 Yesterday, a bomb exploded on a train from Alexandria injuring five people, according to security officials. After a hiatus of two months on Wednesday an offensive began with the outbreak of underpowered four bombs in the subway of Cairo, wounding at least 6 people. The days following a series of attacks in the capital and in the Sinai Peninsula the lives of two civilians and eight Egyptian policemen charged. According to the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist insurgency, fueled by the uprising has killed about 500 members of the security forces.

Following the adoption of a draconian law demonstrations late last year, the police and legal harassment has also been extended to the lay activists, including some symbols of the Revolution of 2011, as Alaa Abdelfattah Ahmed Maher. Dozens of young revolutionaries have been sentenced to long prison terms for the sake of participating in “illegal demonstrations “.

Neither the media have gotten rid of state repression. In an effort to silence any dissenting voices have been shut down newspapers and television related to the opposition. About a dozen journalists and the Al Jazeera received a harsh sentence of between seven and ten years in prison in a trial with a large media attention last month.

Once the presidential vote is planned that the roadmap of the transition culminates in autumn with the holding of legislative elections. The outcome of these elections and the popular reaction to cuts in public subsidies under the state budget presented this week, are the main challenges for the consolidation of the current regime.

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Posted by Maleeha Tareen on Jul 5 2014. Filed under Latest News, Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.