By Marwa Al-A’asar
CAIRO: About 5,000 residents of Suez governorate held a popular trial Friday afternoon for former governor Mohamed Seif Eddin Galal, according to activist Abel-Aziz Kamel.
Residents of the area have accused Galal of allegedly being responsible for killing anti-regime protesters during the first days of the January 25 Revolution, as well as being involved in acts of corruption.
“The event started with a few hundred gathering outside El-Arbeen mosque then the number started to increase as they marched to the municipality building where the symbolic trial was held,” Ahmed Abdel-Gawad, a Ghad party leader, told Daily News Egypt.
The verdict of the trial, organized by the Suez Without Corruption Association, was to set Galal on fire after a panel, prosecutor and defense committee deliberated.
“We wanted to deliver a message to the new governor to think twice before committing any act of corruption,” Kamel, an association member, said.
The new Suez governor, a former military officer, was sworn in after the old one was removed in response to growing demand.
Several complaints of corruption charges have been filed so far before the prosecutor general against the former governor.
On Wednesday, protests erupted on the streets of Suez condemning Prime Minister Essam Sharaf for honoring Galal despite wide calls for prosecuting him. The ex-police directorate chief and three other senior officers will face a trial hearing before a criminal court on May 16 on charges of using live ammunition against peaceful protesters.
“We are planning to hold another popular trial for the four officers before the real one,” Abdel-Gawad said.
Suez witnessed the most intense clashes when the January 25 Revolution broke out as protesters demanded civil rights and an end to the Hosni Mubarak regime. The first Egyptian to die in the protests was from Suez, Mostafa Ragab Mohamed, shot dead on the night of Jan. 25.
Unofficial medical sources said that eight people were killed during protests, while over 1,000 others were injured, many seriously, though official reports said only 29 were killed.
Former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly will face the first trial hearing on April 24 before a criminal court on charges of premeditated murder of protesters, attempted murder of others as well as inflicting major damages to public and private properties which had a negative impact on the economy.
