(AFP Photo)
By Nourhan Dakroury
The National Defence Council, lead by interim president Adly Mansour, announced they will be closely monitoring the sit-ins in Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square.
The council was deeply concerned that both sit-ins did not respect the fundamental principles of national security, according to a Sunday statement.
“The council calls on all those at the sit-in to not surpass their right in expressing their opinion responsibly,” the statement read.
“The council also warns that it will take decisive and firm measures, in a legal framework and with respect for human rights, about any future transgressions,” the statement continued.
The council said in the statement that those at the sit-ins should immediately announce their condemnation and rejection of any form of violence.
The council demanded protesters at the sit-in “immediately stop using violence and refrain from physical and verbal assaults on citizens,” warning them from “any hateful and incendiary speech against Egyptian citizens and state institutions” and from “any transgression on the law jeopardising citizens’ safety.”
The National Coalition to Support Legitimacy condemned the council’s call on those at the sit-ins to maintain peaceful protests, saying they have been peaceful since the start, in a statement released on Monday.
It also criticised the council’s assurance that the state would respect people’s right for freedom of expression, explaining that some channels, like religious Misr 25 and Al-Hafez, were shut down for not voicing the same opinion as what they described as “putschists.”
The defence council emphasised that the “state will guarantee the rights and freedoms of all its citizens, especially the right for freedom of expression in a peaceful way, including the right for protesting and striking without posing any threat to the security of the community.”
The council extended its condolences to the families of the victims of the clashes that took place near the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in Friday night, adding that there should not be any more bloodshed.
The statement was released after the National Defence Council held its second meeting on Saturday to discuss current security issues in Egypt.
