By Marwa Al-A’asar
CAIRO: Dozens of intellectuals and writers protested Thursday morning against the regime and the government represented by the Ministry of Culture.
The protest kicked off outside the Supreme Council of Culture inside the Cairo Opera House in Zamalek for about an hour then moved in the streets of Gabalayia towards Qasr El-Nile Bridge.
One protester carried a banner saying: “Intellectuals boycott the culture ministry until the regime is overthrown.”
Protesters chanted anti-regime slogans. “The people wish to overthrow the regime … the people want to prosecute the regime,” they said.
“Leave,” they shouted in reference to Mubarak.
Protesters also condemned former Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni for making derogatory statements about them.
The protesters, singing the revolutionary songs of late Sheikh Imam, also condemned the alleged corruption in the culture ministry.
Arabic literature professor Sayed El-Bahrawy told Daily News Egypt that they have demands similar to the masses protesting in Tahrir Square and other parts of Egypt.
“We call on the regime to step down and we call for forming a national salvation government to rule the country in the coming transitional phase,” El-Bahrawy, also a writer and a critic, said.
“We also boycott all activities of the culture ministry,” he added.
The protesters were later joined by the members of the Writers Union who gathered in Zamalek and marched to Tahrir Square, where they held a sit-in near Omar Makram Mosque.
A third protest was held by the filmmakers in front of the Cinema Syndicate in Adly street in downtown and moved to Tahrir square to join the masses there.
