Photo by Ahmed El-Malky
Five protesters were reportedly arrested in front of the High Court on Wednesday, amid protests against prosecutor general Tal’at Abdallah’s orders to arrest protesters adopting Black Bloc tactics.
The number of protesters in Black Bloc attire members increased after the arrests took place, reported state-owned Al-Ahram.
The protests took place while Abdallah stated that his orders targeted Black Bloc members committing criminal acts, reported state-owned MENA. Abdallah added that such criminal acts include throwing Molotov cocktails, carrying weapons, theft and sabotage.
Abdallah stated that the public prosecutor’s technical office is currently investigating offences committed by Black Bloc activists. He added that investigations revealed “serious” information regarding the names of perpetrators of “acts of terrorism”.
A journalist, Ahmed Abul Qassem, was detained on Tuesday night by Muslim Brotherhood youth who claimed he was a Black Bloc activist. Abul Qassem is the secretary general of the Electronic Press Syndicate.
He was walking in Nasr City, distributing flyers criticising the prosecutor general’s orders to arrest Black Bloc activists when he was detained by Khaled Hussein, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood youth member.
“Abul Qassem held flyers stating that in order to arrest Black Bloc members, members of other ‘banned’ groups must also be arrested,” said Atef Al-Negmy, Abul Qassem’s lawyer. He added that Hussein and Abul Qassem went to the Nasr City police station, where Abul Qassem intended to file a report accusing Hussein of assaulting him. He was surprised to find a report filed against him instead; he was accused of belonging to the Black Bloc, “a banned group”, and promoting its ideals. He was released Wednesday.
Ahmed Fahmy, head of the Shura Council, filed a report to the Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdallah against independent Al-Tahrir channel for hosting Black Bloc activists, MENA reported. Essam Shebl, Al-Wasat Party member and Shura Council representative, stated he would pursue a legislative amendment banning wearing masks or possessing weapons during any protests, reported Al-Ahram.
Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan denied that the Brotherhood is launching an “Islamist White Bloc” campaign to even out the Black bloc’s actions.
“The Brotherhood adopts a peaceful approach,” Ghozlan said.
Black Bloc tactics were first used in Egypt on 24 January. Activists declared themselves guardians of the revolution. Since then, several acts of sabotage committed nationwide have been blamed on them. The group claims they are anti-media, thus any statements released on their behalf cannot be confirmed.
