A student was killed Saturday following Friday’s clashes between security forces and protesters in Sharqeya governorate, according to health officials in the governorate.
Youssry Galal, a student in the Computer Science Institute in Al-Abour, was shot in the head after security forces dispersed an anti-government protest in front of the Derb Nagm police station.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, claimed Galal was shot “by mistake” after he and others were on their way to inform the security forces about the names of the protesters.
The police, however, said the protesters gathered around the police station, where one of them was arrested. Following the arrest, friends of the arrested protesters fired at security forces and demanded his release, killing Galal. The prosecution is currently investigating the case.
Galal’s family were contacted but refused to comment or to give any clarification concerning the death of their relative.
The FJP added that security forces arrested friends of Galal to “hide the truth and to argue that anti-government protesters are the ones who killed Galal”.
The interior ministry said Galal was not even participating in the protest.
The protest in Sharqeya started after the Friday sermon, where it roamed the city and chanted against the police, the judiciary, and the army.
Earlier on Thursday, the Anti-Coup Alliance (ACA) called on its supporters to protest against the current regime. It added that “the latest death sentences against the Egyptian legitimate president Mohamed Morsi will not exhaust the revolutionaries”.
The ACA, the largest pro-Morsi opposition bloc formed after Morsi’s ouster on 3 July 2013, has been calling for protests since Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square sit-ins dispersals in August 2013.
On 16 June, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Morsi and five others to death, on charges of participating in storming Egyptian prisons, attacking police facilities, and killing security personnel. The Brotherhood described the verdicts as a “political inclination” that show a desire to “eliminate the defendants”.
Sharqeya remains one the cities with high pro-Morsi support, with its villages witnessing weekly protests.
Also on Friday, protests took place in different government. However, violent clashes occurred between protesters and riot police in the restive district of Matariya in Cairo.
Inside the working class neighbourhood, the protesters gathered at Al-Tawon Street only to be met by riot police who dispersed the protest with tear gas and birdshots.
The popular area of Matariya has been the one of the most volatile sites of resistance and protest to the government, regularly hosting demonstrations by supporters of the outlawed Brotherhood.
The issuing of the Protest Law by the interim government in November 2013 came at a time of frequent clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces. However, since the law was enacted, a sweeping crackdown was launched against any kind of protest, whether Islamists, students or activists, on charges of “illegal assembly”.
