(AFP PHOTO/Mohammad El-Shahed)
Three protesters were killed on Friday in Cairo and Qaliubiya, and 20 were wounded – most of them by bullets and birdshot – clashed after demonstrators with security forces, said the spokesman for the Ministry of Health.
Eight were injured and 53 were arrested in Cairo alone as protesters marched through neighbourhoods condemning the death sentences handed down on Thursday to prominent Muslim Brotherhood members Mohamed Badie and Essam El-Erian for charges of murder, attempted murder, planning and taking part in an illegal assembly, vandilising properties, and causing injuries at Cario’s Istiqama Mosque, according to state-run Al-Ahram.
Across the country, a total of 94 people were arrested based on accusations of being Muslim Brotherhood members, inciting violence, and holding illegal demonstrations, according to a statement by the Ministry of the Interior.
On Saturday, police arrested eight more people in Cairo Boulaq neighbourhood near downtown Cairo, accused of attacking a police officer, attempting to take his weapon, and shooting and killing a passerby, reported Al-Ahram.
Nineteen of the protesters in Fayoum were also charged with attacking the local security directorate.
Additional demonstrations took place in Damietta and Alexandria.
Twenty of those arrested in Cairo and Giza were charged with illegally possessing firearms.
Pro-Morsi groups such as the Anti-Coup Alliance often organise marches and demonstrations following Friday prayers. The groups refused to recognise the legitimacy of the interim government that followed Morsi’s ouster, and still refuse to recognise the government of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Interior was unavailable for comment.
