(AFP PHOTO / STR)
Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred 163 defendants involved in the Sidi Gaber clashes in Alexandria to its criminal court on Wednesday.
The defendants are facing charges of committing a “massacre” killing 29 people, and attempting to murder 30 after the dispersal of pro-Mohamed Morsi sit-ins in August 2013.
“Investigations have been taking place to confirm the causes of death of the victims, as well as inspecting the corpses and questioning 43 eyewitnesses,” according to a Wednesday statement from the prosecution.
Investigations indicated that the defendants, who are allegedly members of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, reacted to the death of one of its members by carrying different melee and automatic weapons, gathering at Ibrahim Square, and violently clashing with local residents.
“The defendants fired randomly at whoever wanted to stop them. They were aiming to create chaos in the neighbourhood, terrorising citizens, and destroying public properties,” the statement said.
It added that afterwards the alleged attackers headed to the Sidi Gaber police station, assaulting a police officer and other security personnel.
What followed, according to the statement, were violent confrontations between the defendants and the locals, as the former headed to the Stanley district. “There, the attackers used Molotov cocktails and rocks to assault citizens, killing 29 people and injuring 30 others.”
Forensic reports indicated that most of the victims suffered from gunshots, severe cuts, fractured bones and nick injuries.
The statement added that security forces were able to arrest 157, who after the investigations are facing charges of “terrorism, carrying unlicensed weapons, attempted murder, attacking police forces, thuggery and blocking roads”.
