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Maspero 9 October

Silent stand-in on main Egypt bridge for Maspero victims

| 15 October 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Protesters stage silent demonstration on Qasr al-Nile bridge Saturday.

CAIRO: A silent stand-in to honor the victims of state TV violence on October 9 took place on Saturday evening on the iconic Qasr al-Nil bridge where tens of people stood quietly, holding flags that read “mourning” and banners that read “dignity first” and “the people want a fair investigation.”

The non-politicized stand was met with curious questions from passersby, which the participants gladly answered.

“We are here because of what happened in Maspero on Sunday,” answered the participants.

The Coptic Christian march that started in the residential district of Shubra on Sunday and ended up at the state TV building, also know as Maspero, was met with violence from the military forces guarding the building.

The violence left at least 26 protesters dead and hundreds injured. Eyewitnesses gave their accounts of the events saying military police opened fire at protesters and ran some of them over with armored vehicles.

The protest, which was mostly Coptic with some Muslim participants, was calling for more rights for Copts and an investigation of a recent clash that resulted in the burning of a Christian house of worship in the town of Edfu, in the Upper Egyptian governorate Aswan.

“It has been almost 9 months since the revolution and we have not seen any progress or achievements. The ruling military council is staging an anti-revolution,” Ismail Gamal, a student and activist, told Bikyamasr.com.

“I am here today because every Egyptian has the right to protest and to express themselves freely,” Gamal added.

** Sarah Sheffer contributed to this report in Cairo