The number of detainees apprehended by security forces yesterday, Friday, in Cairo and Alexandria reached 109 after they participated in protests condemning the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Khaled Ali, a human rights lawyer, stated that lawyers had identified 65 detainees in Alexandria and 44 detainees in Cairo (Tahrir Square).
Egypt’s provinces saw massive demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine and condemnation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza following Friday prayers. However, some of these protests were critical of what some called “authorization for the current President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.”
A human rights lawyer told Zawia3, “Those who rejected the principle of authorization chanted slogans expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian cause and refused to grant authorization. Some of them chanted slogans indicating their support for the January revolution. This led security forces to intervene and disperse protests that had reached Tahrir Square and arrest several of them,” adding, “The detainees have not been presented to the prosecutor yet, which is considered an unlawful detention.”
Friday, security forces attempted to prevent a demonstration that had departed from Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo from reaching Tahrir Square, but the participants managed to enter Tahrir Square, causing disturbance to the security forces and the temporary closure of the square’s entrances.
A brother of one of the detainees from Tahrir Square stated that his brother (20 years old) disappeared while participating in the demonstration in Tahrir Square last Friday. He added to Zawia3, “Google Maps showed that he was at the Abdeen police station in central Cairo and near Tahrir Square. When they went to the police station to inquire about him, they denied his presence. They also searched for him through lawyers at the Cairo prosecutors’ office, but he has not appeared yet.”
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives and the Senate authorized President Sisi to take measures to protect national security, secure the country’s borders, and support the Palestinians. Meanwhile, political parties and movements, both supportive and opposing the regime, called for protests in various squares to denounce the events in Gaza and reject any calls for the displacement of Palestinians to Sinai.
This comes after a joint press conference by the Egyptian President and the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in which they hinted at the Egyptian people’s readiness to demonstrate “in rejection of the migration of Palestinians from Gaza.”
During the press conference with the German Chancellor, Sisi rejected “calls to relocate Palestinians to Sinai” and suggested the Negev Desert in Israel as an alternative to these calls.
Both supporting and opposing political parties called for protests in most major squares on Friday to “condemn the events in Gaza and reject any attempts to displace Palestinians to Sinai.” However, the difference between them lay in the naming of these protests. The opposing side considered them “protests in support of Palestine without supporting Sisi,” while the supportive parties viewed them as “authorization for Sisi to make the decisions he deems fit.”
