Female supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and of ousted president Mohamed Morsi flee from Egyptian security during a rally in Alexandria on November 4, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/Stringer)
Female detainees recently arrested at Alexandria protests have denied being abused or forced to take pregnancy tests, according to Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) spokesperson Nada Kabbary.
Former Muslim Brotherhood leader and manager of Victims Centre for Human Rights Haitham Abu Khalil had claimed last week that the Alexandria detainees had had pregnancy tests forced on them. “Last Thursday there was a conference for the parents of the detainees and they said no pregnancy test took place,” he said. “I am not sure if they are being discreet about it or it hasn’t actually happened.” He added that his allegations stemmed from a parent of detained women who made the claim during a TV interview on Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr.
However, AFTE lawyer in Alexandria Ahmed Shazli said he had investigated Abu Khalil’s allegations, offering the families of the detainees the services of a female lawyer to ensure no such tests were conducted on the young women, but they had refused.
Ministry of Interior Spokesman Hany Abdel Latif last week also denied the use of such tests. “These are all false allegations; there is no such thing as forced pregnancy tests,” he said. “The police force performs its duty according to the law, and anyone who has any proof of otherwise should present it to the prosecutor general.”
On Thursday 31 October, a group of 21 women and one man were arrested by security forces in Alexandria for “blocking the road”. The activists belong to a group called the “7 am Movement”, which organises peaceful protests before the beginning of the school day against the 3 July military-backed ousting of former President Morsi. The group, which started in Alexandria, has spreader to Greater Cairo and launched a campaign with the name “Our girls are a red line” to call for the release of the 22 detainees.
AFTE and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) issued a joint statement condemning the arrest, describing it as “a step backward” and “a return to the violations prior to the 25 January Revolution.”
Seven of the girls were moved to Al-Defaa orphanage in Moharam Bek while the other 14 were detained in Al-Abaadeya prison in Damanhour. The boy who was arrested with the girls was released after he was determined to be a bystander uninvolved with any of the protests.
On Friday, The Anti Coup Alliance launched a million man march in protest of “vindictive violations” against women.
Archeologists belonging to Tamarod (Rebellion) campaign demonstrate against the Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim on 23 October, demanding his resignation (Photo Campaign hand out )
The Minister of Antiquities has no vision and must resign, president of the Egyptian Antiquities Association and Tamarod coordinator Ahmed Shehab has said.
Shehab explained in a telephone interview that the group had printed 10,000 petition forms and have filled 4,000 so far, but are planning to reach 30,000. Those who signed the petition are employees in the ministry and fresh archaeology graduates. The group is intending to send three copies each of the petition results to Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, the cabinet and the presidency.
He added: “When the minister was part of Dr Hisham Kandil’s cabinet, there were 48 protests against him at the time. Dr Mohamed Ibrahim was later replaced by Dr Ahmed Eisa, but Dr Hazem El-Beblawi just re-appointed him despite all the negative feelings towards him”.
In response to inquiries on reasons for their demands, Shehab said: “Dr Mohamed Ibrahim hasn’t dealt with the ongoing antiquities looting from sites all over Egypt; nobody knows the actual numbers of pieces in storage. The demands of the employees of the ministry as well as the fresh graduates are not met, and there is no plan [nor intention] to resolve all these issues”.
A second cause for unrest is that the situation at the ministry has generally been dire. Employees have been complaining about health insurance, which the ministry has been gradually degrading until employees were awarded only public insurance. The employees also complain about their wages, as they claim that the average wage of an antiquity restorer is only EGP 500, while other privileged employees receive wages that reach thousands of pounds. Employees attempted to confront the minister, whose response, according to them, was that the ministry has insufficient funds and the security state in Egypt is worsening.
The state of Egypt’s antiquities have been under scrutiny after the country’s most popular icon, Dr Zahy Hawas, was removed from his position after the 25 January Revolution because of his relationship with ousted President Hosni Mubarak, controversy regarding the nature of his earnings and his management of the ministry. He was also sentenced to be removed from his position and pay a fine of EGP 1,000.
The controversy around Egyptian antiquities at the time of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and the rise of political Islam reached its peak as archaeologists and enthusiasts of Egyptian heritage feared that Egyptian monuments would face the same fate of negligence and intended sabotage that those in ancient civilisations have suffered from in regions were political Islam was dominant. The covering of a statue in the street by Al-Nour Party during a conference in Alexandria in 2011 has raised concerns about the matter.
A group called “Egypt’s Heritage Task Force” shed light on the dire situation of Egyptian antiquities last September when they gave a presser attended by a number of individuals, including activists, architects and politicians. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about the state of Egyptian antiquities, which are looted by organised armed groups, as well as the illegal construction of residential buildings and cemeteries on sites of national heritage in Dahshour, Malawy and El-Lisht.
After the presser, the looting did not stop, but illegal and irresponsible activities with regard to heritage sites have continued. For example, the use of cars inside the narrow Al-Miuz Street is ruining the ancient mosques in the area, not to mention that, lately, it was discovered that Egyptian antiquities are being sold online.
The Ministry of Antiquities was not available for comment.
Around 500 pro-Morsi protesters gathered near Police Academy Gate 8, where a barbed wire barricade was set by Ministry of Interior. (Photo by Mohamed Omar)
Cairo Criminal Court decided on Monday to postpone the trial for former President Mohamed Morsi and 14 other Muslim Brotherhood members to 8 January, 2014, in order to review the court case’s documents. The court also decided the continuation of the defendants’ detention.
Morsi was ordered to be transferred to Borg Al-Arab prison on the outskirts of Alexandria after the court session for preventative detention, according to Egyptian State TV.
The defendants includeMorsi’s office manager Ahmed Abdel Atty, his assistant Ayman Abdel Raouf, former Deputy Chief of Staff Asaad El-Sheikha, Deputy Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Essam El-Erian, senior FJP member Mohamed El-Beltagy, conservative preacher Wagdi Ghoneim, and activists Abdel Rahman Ezz, Ahmed Al-Mogheer and Alaa Hamza. Those in question currently face charges of inciting violence outside the Presidential Palace on 5 December 2012 which resulted in five deaths and 693 injuries.
Lawyers Mohamed Abdelaziz and Mahmoud Belal, who are civil claimants against the defendants, said the court session started at 10am in the presence of 20 civil claims lawyers and 25 lawyers representing the defendants.
By the time the session began, Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef began calling the defendants’ names. Morsi replied that he did not not recognise the court, saying, “I am the legitimate President.” The defendants’ lawyers then chanted: “The people salute the president’s steadfastness!”
When the judge called the rest of the defendants’ names, they replied with chants of “down with the coup”, “Rabaa lives” and “down with military rule”.
The attendance of the defendants’ lawyers was submitted, except for the former president, who insisted that he did not recognise the court and asked no lawyers to defend him “with all due respect to the judges”.
The representative of the prosecution read the referral warrant when Morsi started to shout again, “I am the legitimate president!”
The court was suspended for 75 minutes, in which lawyers Mohamed Al-Damaty, Mohamed Selim Al-Awa, and Mohamed Tousson were allowed to meet the defendants.
When the court session resumed, the civil claim lawyers’ attendance was submitted and they asked the court that the Presidential Palace clashes victims be allowed to provide testimonies.
“The Muslim Brotherhood lawyers began disturbing the court by chanting and shouting,” Belal said.
Belal concluded that Morsi did not declare a clear position regarding Al-Awa, saying that “if Morsi asks Al-Awa to defend him, this means that he recognises the court.”
Lawyers outside the Police Academy were denied access for not having official permits, they claimed. Kalyoubia Law Syndicate Chairman Mahmoud Youssef said that “despite applying for a permit to enter the court, I did not receive a permit.”
Youssef said the trial was unconstitutional, as Morsi is still the president and should be tried according to certain laws and procedures, such as standing ahead of a special tribunal and with the consent of two-thirds of the parliament.
Commenting on the claim that Morsi was being tried according to the legal principle that “people are the source of legitimacy and authority” Youssef said that “there is no referendum to prove that people were against Morsi,” adding that “Morsi supporters are demonstrating by the millions daily.”
Al-Damaty, Al-Awa and Touson were among the legal representatives present on behalf of Morsi. Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ibrahim commented that “Al-Damaty, Al-Awa and Touson were all given last minute permits to dismiss future allegations of it being an unfair trial.”
Outside the Police Academy where journalists and pro-Morsi protesters were allowed to stand before the barricade, protesters shouted insults against the police forces and chanted against the “3 July Coup” and “General Al-Sisi”.
This later escalated as protesters turned their anger on several news outlets and independent journalists present, with numerous reports of assaults on the press.
At one point, protesters attacked an independent blogger wearing a “necklace with a cross”, according to Ahmed Ismail from the Azhary TV channel.
According to eyewitnesses, CBC satellite channel had been filming the incident when protesters attacked both its van and cameraman Ahmed Sallam with rocks amid cries of “liars” and “putchists” and “slaves of [Defense Minister Abdel Fatah] Al-Sisi”.
Daily News Egypt reporter Fady Ashraf tried to intervene, only to be attacked himself.
“I tried to stop the attack but I was grabbed by the hair and assaulted by some protesters, and got punched in the head and the stomach,” Ashraf said. “Other protestors were chanting ‘Silmiya’ [‘peaceful’] and stopped the attacking protesters.”
Meanwhile, the Anti-Coup Alliance, also known as the National Coalition to Support Legitimacy, issued a statement concerning the trial in which they “commend kidnapped President Mohamed Morsi for his resolve in the face of the coup while facing the judges of the coup, and his commitment to legitimacy and the will of the people.”
“The Alliance calls on the Egyptian masses to participate in the million man march titled ‘The World Salutes the President’s Resolve’ on Tuesday,” the statement added.
