CAIRO: A lawyer filed a request with Egypt’s Prosecutor General to investigate the nature of the teargas used by police against protesters in and near Tahrir Square last week, in an official complaint against the Minister of Interior and the premier.
“Even if, as they say, protesters wanted to attack the interior ministry, they cannot use this amount of teargas in a residential area like Tahrir,” said lawyer Saad El Din Naguib in reference to deadly clashes between police and protesters in Cairo and other governorates.
Over 40 protesters were killed and over 2,000 injured in a battle that lasted from Nov.19-24.
Most of the fatalities were on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, off Tahrir Square. In addition to fatalities caused by pellets and rubber and live bullets, field doctors noted that many also died due to teargas asphyxiation.
Protesters have complained of suffering from symptoms different than when police used teargas during the Jan. 25 uprising.
The lawyer said he’s demanding laboratory tests on the teargas used to determine if it contained hazardous chemicals.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement this week that based on tests it conducted, no poisonous material was found in the teargas.
The lawyer also noted news about a shipment of teargas that arrived through the Suez Port this week. Employees there reportedly refused to sign off on the shipment, delaying its delivery to the government. These employees are allegedly under investigation.
Naguib asked the prosecutor to send a specialist from the National Center for Research to examine the new shipment of imported teargas. “Also to examine the side-effects, and if they were used in January,” added Saad.
Entessar Ghareeb, a member of the Maspero Revolutionaries group, said she contacted a chemist from the Egyptian Center for Medicine who issued a medical report stating that the CR gas used contains nerve gas.
“We will talk to lawyers specialized in international law to figure out if we can sue the government for using this gas,” she said.
According to news reports, the new shipment of teargas amounts to 21 tons and was imported from the US.
US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner confirmed that the shipment was sent to the Egyptian government on Tuesday. He told reporters that the US has not found any evidence that Egypt misused the teargas.
“How come? If they want to disperse people they could use one may be two or even water but not over 50 teargas canisters,” said Naguib.
He said police used teargas excessively on Mohamed Mahmoud Street throughout the five days of violence.
