By Marwa Al-A’asar
CAIRO: Thousands of Suez residents protested in the main El-Arbaein Street on Friday, including men, women and children from an array of backgrounds and political groups, demanding justice for the injured and the families of those killed during the early days of the January 25 uprising.
On Monday, seven police officers accused of using live ammunition against peaceful protesters, including the former police directorate chief and his deputy, were released on LE 10,000 bail and the trial adjourned until September. Another seven officers are being tried in absentia.
The court order stirred the outrage of citizens, hundreds of which began an open sit-in on El-Arbaein since then.
The Friday protesters accused the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of violating victims’ rights, calling for overthrowing the head of SCAF Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
“The people want to overthrow the field marshal,” they chanted. “The army is ours and the SCAF is theirs,” others said.
The demonstrators also pressured for sacking Interior Minister Mansour El-Essawy and other senior officers charged with killing protesters.
“We call for holding public trials of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and all former officials accused of corruption,” activist Abdel-Aziz Kamel told Daily News Egypt
Others requested sacking the Suez attorney general who allegedly ignored complaints against other officers accused of shooting protesters as well as corruption cases.
“Today reminds us of the night of Jan. 28 [dubbed the Friday of Rage]. Even those who never protested before are here today and the number is increasing,” official spokesman of the Suez Youth Coalition Medhat Eissa told DNE.
“We demand the cleansing of the judiciary and the establishment of a revolutionary court that publicly prosecutes all symbols of corruption and killers of the revolutionaries,” he added.
The protesters set up a podium for speakers while handing the pictures of the Suez martyrs on its pillars.
Presidential hopefuls Islamic scholar Hazem Abu Ismail and Judge Hisham El-Batawisy joined the protesters, giving speeches following Friday prayers, while several hundred Cairene activists were in Suez since Thursday night in a show of solidarity.
After 1 pm, a thug fired a shot in the air, injuring one protester. Demonstrators quickly moved in, arrested him and handed him to the army forces on the scene.
The wounded protester was rushed to hospital. No further details about his condition were immediately available.
El-Arbaein, named by citizens the Martyrs Square, witnessed the murder of the first protester shot on the night of Jan. 25.
Official reports say that 29 were killed and 1,000 others injured in Suez during clashes with security last January.
