Tensions arise before marches commemorating Cabinet Clashes

Fady Ashraf
3 Min Read

A late Sunday statement from the “Families of the martyrs of Cabinet Clashes” read that they did not ask for an approval from the Ministry of Interior for their Monday protest commemorating the second anniversary of the clashes.

Protesters are set to gather at 4pm at Opera Square in Downtown Cairo and march to the Cabinet headquarters on Qasr El-Aini Street. The protest is organised by several factions, the most notable being the Revolutionary Front, 6 April Youth Movement, Warakom Bel Taqreer, Misr Al-Qawia Party and Askar Kazeboon (The military are liars).

“We did not ask for an [interior ministry] approval for our protest, due to our initial rejection of the Protest Law,” the statement posted on Warakom Bel Taqreer Facebook page read.

The statement added that protesters “reject Muslim Brotherhood and the Tamarod [Rebellion] movement participation in their protest”.

However, Tamarod announced that they will participate in commemorating the anniversary of the clashes. “Our main goal is to make everyone remember that [former SCAF leaders] Hussein Tantawy and Samy Annan committed crimes against the revolution and made a dirty and unsuccessful deal with a faction that betrayed the nation, the Brotherhood, which led to the blood spill of the purest youth,” the movement said in a statement.

Tamarod founding member and spokesman Hassan Shahin is one of 1917 who were injured during the clashes.

Brotherhood-affiliated movement Students against Coup (SAC) is also holding marches in Ain Shams University, with their announced destination being the Ministry of Defence.

State-owned news agency MENA reported that the interior ministry installed extra security enforcements on the premises of different headquarters, including the Ministry of Interior, Cabinet, Shura Council and People’s Assembly.

MENA also reported that security enforcements were also installed in the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis, which is six kilometres away from the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Abbasiya.

Cabinet Clashes ignited when demonstrators organised a sit-in at the Cabinet headquarters protesting the appointment of Kamal Al-Ganzouri as Prime Minister by the then-ruling SCAF. The military police attempted to disperse the sit-in, resulting in clashes which lasted four days and caused scores of injuries and deaths.

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