(Photo from Shaimaa Al-Sabbagh Tribute Facebook Page )
The Socialist Popular Alliance, a political party that saw policemen shoot one of their members at a small protest on 24 January vowed it will not participate in upcoming parliamentary elections unless the government responds to their demands, the party said in a statement Wednesday.
These demands include: the dismissal of the current Minister of Interior, Mohamed Ibrahim, the rebuilding and restructuring of the police forces, the modification of the controversial protest law, the release of all political prisoners, and the state provides some guarantees that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be “free and fair.”
Party Secertary General Moataz Al-Shenawy also described the Minister of Interior’s statement that there will be investigations looking into Al-Sabbagh’s death as “strange.”
A statement on the group’s of official page quoted Al-Shenawy as aying that the Minister of Interior knows very well who the killer is. Al-Shenawy added that the Minister knows which officials were present at the protest and how many weapons they had.
The group had organised a small “protest of flowers” in Talaat Harb Square before the anniversary of the 25 January Revolution, when police fired birdshots at the protesters and killed Al-Sabbagh.
The Ministry of Interior and the armed forces had coordinated so as to form groups in preparation for the dispersal of protests on 25 January, state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported last week.
Security forces killed at least 23 protesters as they clashed with demonstrations in different neighbourhoods throughout Cairo on the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. One policeman was also killed as a result of clashes.
