CAIRO: Thousands of Al-Ahly football fans (Ultras) marched Wednesday to the Prosecutor General’s office to demand retribution and swift justice for the 71 that were killed in Port Said. Investigations, they said, are yet to yield results.
"We came to prod the authorities to bring the rights of those who died. We want a verdict to be issued against those who killed them," said Mohamed Mamdouh, who was at the march.
Aly Mohsen, whose son Omar was killed in Port Said on Feb.1, said that the investigations have revealed nothing until now. "We want everyone to be held accountable for what they did, whether it is deliberate or unintentional murder," he said.
Thousands of Al-Masry fans charged on their Ahly counterparts following a football game. A preliminary report by a parliamentary fact-finding committee held the security forces responsible, while other MPs and observers want to hold the ruling military council politically responsible as well.
The club’s fan group, Ultras Ahlawy, believe the number of victims to be much higher than the one given by the Ministry of Health.
Mahmoud Mohamed, member of the Ultras whose leg was broken during the attack, was one of the thousands who marched from the club in Zamalek to Downtown Cairo. He participated to call for retribution for his friends, blaming Port Said’s Al-Masry fans for the carnage.
Mohsen said the march headed to the Prosecutor General’s office to urge him to announce the results of the investigations so far.
Port Said prosecution renewed Wednesday the detention of 57 suspects for 15 days pending investigations and released 22 others.
Port Said MPs told parliament that police arrested teenagers randomly an hour and a half after the game, criticizing the security forces for its inaction in the stadium to prevent the attack.
According to the official Middle East News Agency (MENA), the prosecutor will announce the results of investigations in full after completion. No preliminary dates were set.
On Tuesday, a parliamentary sub-committee heard the testimony of Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim on the events in a closed meeting.
The People’s Assembly had ended Monday its discussion of the preliminary report prepared by the parliament’s fact-finding commission.
The initial report held security, the management of Port Said Stadium and the football federation responsible.
The fact-finding committee is scheduled to prepare the final report, which will determine who will be held politically accountable, after listening to the testimonies of all the concerned parties.
"I cannot say there is inaction from the government in dealing with the case; I am against inflaming and politicizing this case even if it has a political side," Mohsen added. "I only want the right of my son who died in an incident of treachery. "
The mother of one of the Ultras members who returned safe from the game, told a different story.
"For the military rulers, it is just a repeated incident that would be forgotten. They should stop underestimating people. They kill our youth for the old man [Mubarak] who is sleeping in hospital," mother of Ultras member Mohamed Kamel said. She refused to give her name calling herself a mother of all Ultras’ heroes.
MP Mohamed Abou Hamed, who took part in Wednesday’s march, said the final parliamentary report is expected to be issued in 10 days.
"It will be very precise and detailed," he said.
He told reporters that such peaceful protests give legitimacy to the demands of demonstrators.
Once the march arrived at the Prosecution General’s office, the Ultras started igniting fireworks and singing their known anthems.
Politicians and rights groups have been calling for the dismissal of the Mubarak-appointed Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud since the Jan. 25 uprising last year.
Similar calls by parliamentarians resulted in a conflict between the judiciary and the MPs.
