By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: Police officers protested in Cairo on Sunday asking for better working conditions, a day after officers marched in Ismailia in solidarity with the revolution, insisting they had been ordered against their will to shoot at protesters.
More than 1,000 low-ranking policemen (with no prospects of promotion to officer status) marched on their employer, the interior ministry, to demand pay raises, better health care, the return of the officers who were unjustly discharged, honoring the officers who died during the revolution and for their former boss — sacked interior minister Habib El-Adly — be dragged into a public place and summarily executed.
With his boss, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, telling Cabinet that his top priority is the restoration of order, new Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy quickly put together a raft of concessions, but not before trouble broke out.
The army fired blank shots in the air to disperse protesters, who then chanted “peaceful, peaceful.”
Some protesters held bullet shells that they said was evidence that the army fired live bullets in the air, but an army official who preferred to remain anonymous insisted that they were blanks.
An army officer later apologized to protesters for firing shots in the air, saying, “The army and the people respect you because you protect and serve the people.”
“(El-Adly) is the one who did this to us, he’s the one who stole the people’s money not us,” low-ranking policeman Ahmed Mahmoud told Daily News Egypt.
“I was working for the Ministry of Interior for 10 years and I earned LE 600 to work in Luxor, until I was unjustly discharged four years ago for being ill for 15 weeks,” Ahmed Rizk, a low-ranking policeman, told Daily News Egypt. “I want my job back with a decent salary.”
“We want to honor the officers who died during the revolution,” Mohamed Hussein told Daily News Egypt, “We keep hearing about the civilians who died, but what about the policemen? What about their rights?”
The protesters also complained that people treated them badly after the revolution. They demanded respect and blamed their superiors for the violence that took place.
“Habib El-Adly is the one who gave us orders to fire live bullets on protesters, if we refused to do that, we would’ve been shot,” Aady Ahmed told Daily News Egypt, “You can’t disobey official orders.”
The same policemen who fought the demonstrators before said that their success is what encouraged them to call for their rights.
“I feel free now and capable of calling for my rights,” Khaled Mohey told Daily News Egypt.
Assistant of the Ministry of Interior for officers’ affairs, Wagdi Saleh read an official statement to protesters saying that no employee in the ministry will be prosecuted unless they face criminal charges.
He added that all low-ranking police will be permitted treatment in police hospitals. However the protesters interrupted him and insisted that Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy personally speak with them.
Wagdy complied and personally gave a speech vowing to heed all their demands, including increasing salaries and bonuses and allowing those who were unjustly discharged to return to their jobs.
However that didn’t seem enough to appease the protestors; they said they wanted an official statement from the ministry to be broadcast on state TV.
“We will be content if they follow through with their promises and announce them in an official statement on state TV,” Hisham Sayyed told Daily News Egypt, “If we don’t get all our rights we will have a strike.”
State TV later aired the statement of the Minister of Interior. –Additional reporting by AFP.
