(Photo By Mohamed Omar)
The 6 April Youth Movement claimed on Saturday night that some of their members were attacked during a sit-in outside the prosecutor general’s office at the High Court building. The group plan to protest outside the courthouse in New Cairo on Monday.
The group, led by Ahmed Maher, published a post on its official Facebook page claiming that the sit-in was attacked by “thugs using birdshot and knives[causing] numerous injuries in the ranks of the youth movement”.
The movement decided to hold a sit-in outside the court, which was announced in a statement published on Saturday evening. The group accused Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdallah of targeting “activists and the media” as well as being biased towards the Muslim Brotherhood. They also announced that they no longer recognise Abdallah’s legitimacy.
Khaled El-Masry, 6 April’s media director, reported on Sunday that the group arrived outside the court at midnight. Shortly after they arrived the group was attacked by “approximately 20 men with knives, shotguns and Molotov cocktails”, said El-Masry. He also said that eyewitnesses claimed that the men came in a microbus brandishing weapons. Seven members of the group suffered minor injuries from birdshot and glass from the Molotov cocktails.
Following the attack the members of the youth movement dispersed for three more hours and returned early on Sunday morning.
The group continued their sit-in on Sunday morning but left in the early afternoon. El-Masry asserted that the group would continue their action until the Ministry of Interior declares where the four members are being held or when they are released. “Until now we have no official information about where they are being held,” he said.
6 April began their sit-in after a court in Nasr City extended the detention of four of its members for four more days on Saturday. The members were originally arrested while protesting outside Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim’s house, early on Friday morning. The group threw women’s undergarments at the police guarding the house and the house itself.
Satirical TV host Bassem Youssef was also at the High Court building on Sunday and he stopped to show his support for the group, said El-Masry. The youth movement had been chanting his name at various points of the morning. “He supported us and we supported him,” said El-Masry.
The group intend to protest outside the court in New Cairo on Monday.
