By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: Several Tahrir Square protesters said they would continue their hunger strike, after the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’ (SCAF) refused to respond to their demands in a meeting on Saturday.
The demands include referring all civilians who were prosecuted under military trials to ordinary courts, sacking the Prosecutor General and transferring ousted President Hosni Mubarak to Tora Prison.
“They told us that it was up to the judiciary where to try Mubarak,” said Albert Saber, one of the protesters on hunger strike.
“The army was just stalling and going back and forth without giving us any concrete solutions during the meeting,” he told Daily News Egypt.
The protesters had halted their hunger strike for 24 hours, after SCAF generals vowed to meet their demands in a preliminary meeting on Friday. They resumed their hunger strike at 10 pm Saturday.
SCAF followed through with issuing a statement on Saturday guaranteeing the right to peaceful protests and limiting the referral of civilians to military courts, which was discussed with the protesters during the Friday meeting. However most of the protesters said these promises were not enough.
Member of the Democratic Front Party, Mohammed Fawzy and one of the protesters on hunger strike, however, said that he will suspend his hunger strike until the Cabinet reshuffle is announced.
“I disagreed with the majority of activists who attended the meeting as they insisted that the military council should immediately meet their demands,” Fawzy told DNE.
“Such demands can’t be executed right then and there,” he added.
A total of 27 protesters have been on hunger strike in Tahrir Square since July 10, according to media reports.
Fawzy said that 14 activists attended the meeting, some of whom were on hunger strike.
