By Mostafa Sheshtawy
CAIRO: A group of newly elected members of parliament were conspicuously absent from a sit-in they announced Monday in protest at the violence used by security forces against unarmed protesters on Qasr El-Ainy Street since Friday.
The sit-in, originally planned to be held at the State Council building, was moved to the Journalists’ Syndicate after participants were harassed by a crowd, according to a phone-in by MP Amr Hamzawy to a TV show Monday night.
But on Tuesday morning, no MPs were seen at the Syndicate, where a random crowd of 50 of their supporters were camped out.
Earlier on Monday, parliamentary elections candidate who will be competing in run offs Wednesday and Thursday Mohamed El-Sawy, announced at a press conference that the group of MPs “hold the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces fully responsible for the killing and brutal violence used against youth, men and women in clashes over the past few days.”
In the statement the MPs demanded that an independent committee of judges investigate the crimes committed including the interrogation of both military and police leaders.
“SCAF has failed in handling the transition and we call for a handover of power to parliament as soon as all its members are elected,” El Sawy said.
Participants in the initiative include members of the Democratic Alliance electoral coalition and independents like Hamzawy and Nasr City MP Mostafa El-Naggar who showed up at around 4 pm on Tuesday.
According to news reports, the MPs also filed a complaint to the Prosecutor General against Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, General Emad El-Wakil, Central Security Forces Chief, head of Military Police General Hamdy Badeen and Head of the Central Military Zone General Hassan El-Ruweiny, who they accused of being responsible for the violence.
“SCAF must leave, they violated Egyptians’ human rights,” said Dr Yahia Abdel Shafi, the field hospital doctor who treated Aboudy Ibrahim, whose brutal beating by military personnel securing the Cabinet building, triggered the recent clashes with security, according to protesters. “SCAF represents the old regime, and it must go now,” he said.
