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Tag: ramsis

  • Sun illuminates face of Ramses II as Aswan’s tourism season peaks

    Sun illuminates face of Ramses II as Aswan’s tourism season peaks

    The sun illuminated on Saturday at the face of Ramses II statue in Aswan, announcing the start of the cultivation season according to ancient Egyptians’ beliefs. The phenomenon, that takes place only twice a year, marks the peak of tourism season in Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel.

    Dubbed the sun festival, the illumination was at 6:20am and lasted for about 20 minutes at Abu Simbel Temple. The event was witnessed by Aswan Governor Ashraf Attia and thousands of tourists.

    Last year, the illumination was attended by 6,500 tourists who usually gather before dawn to witness the light shedding on the 22-metre-long statue slowly starting from face of the statue, expanding to the surrounding giant statues.

    Ramses II also known as Ramesses II or Ramesses the Great was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and known to be the most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom.

    The sun festival occurs on 22 October and 22 February. These dates are believed to signify the birthday of the Ramses II and the day he ascended to the throne. On each of these two days, when the sun enters the temple at dawn, the rays illuminate the statues at the back wall only, except for Ptah, the god of the underworld. It is quite a feat that this was achieved in ancient Egypt, considering the technology and knowledge of astronomy that was available.

    The Abu Simbel Temple was discovered in 1817 at the hands of the Italian discoverer Giovanni Belzoni, who travelled to the site based on the description of the Swiss traveller Jean-Louis Burckhardt. However, it was relocated in 1968 from its original place where it was built ages ago as the High Dam in Aswan and Nasser Lake resulted in the increase of water level in the region which was threatening the temple.

  • About 25 killed, 40 injured in Ramsis Railway Station’s huge fire

    About 25 killed, 40 injured in Ramsis Railway Station’s huge fire

    Around 25 people were killed and 40 others were injured in a huge fire in one of the locomotives of a train at the Ramsis Railway Station on Wednesday, according to state media. The Ramsis Railway Station ‘Mahatat Misr’ in downtown, is one of Egypt’s most crowded places.  

    In an interview with local media, the Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, stated that all the injured individuals were transferred from downtown hospitals to the Nasser Institute’s and Dar El-Shefaa hospital’s emergency departments in order to receive the required medical treatment, adding that some of the injured are in a critical state.

    Some of the injured individuals were transported to the Red Crescent (Al-Helal) hospital in Ramsis. DNA samples are being collected from the accident’s scene in order to identify the victims.

    During a press conference with his Albanian counterpart, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi offered condolences to the families and relatives of the victims affected by the incident. He added that he has ordered the cabinet to hold all who is responsible for the accident accountable.

    Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visited the Ramsis Station. He said that the life of every Egyptian is valuable to him and to the state. He added that anyone who is responsible for the incident will be held to accountability.

    The Prosecutor General, Nabil Sadek, ordered an urgent investigation into the incident in order to clarify the reasons behind the explosion. Moreover, the train’s driver was arrested.

    Following the fire outbreak, the Minister of Transportation, Hesham Arafat, has resigned, and Madbouly accepted his resignation. Before the resignation, Arafat issued a statement stating that that his ministry formed a technical committee to investigate the accident and prepare a technical report on the causes of the fuel tank explosion.

    Egypt’s Railway Stations Authority said in a statement that the fuel tank of the locomotive has exploded after colliding with a concrete buffer stop, causing a huge fire which resulted in the casualties. Flames of the fire engulfed the platforms and the nearby buildings.

    Shortly after the incident, the ministry of transport briefly halted all the railway activities at the station, before resuming them again after a short time, but halted it on pavement number 6 which witnessed the incident.

    Moreover, the Egyptian Cabinet announced allocating financial compensations for the victims of the incident. The compensations include EGP 80,000 for each family of the victims who were killed or handicapped because of the incident, and EGP 25,000 for each of the injured.

    Several images were circulated on social media showing heavy plumes of black smoke rising from the station. It also showed people running while they are burning.

    The train was at the maintenance workshop before it entered the station at a very high speed, without a driver to control it. The station is five kilometres far from the workshop.  

    Train accidents are frequent in Egypt, which has one of the largest and oldest railway roads in the Middle East. Egypt’s railways have suffered for a long time from lacking safety standards throughout successive governments.

    According to an official statement by the Egyptian National Railways and the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2017,12,326 rail accidents took place from 2006 to 2017. The CAPMAS added that there were 1,793 train accidents in 2017 only.

    The country witnessed several train crashes in the last 20 years, resulting in hundreds of casualties, while the last accident happened in July 2018 in Badrashin in Giza, when the ministry of transport stated that the train track’s need for maintenance and renewal was the reason behind the accident.

    Following the Badrashin’s accident, the ministry of transport said that its plan for development includes importing 1,300 modern railcars, 100 modern locomotives in 2019, developing 18 locomotives since November 2018, and providing spare parts at the cost of $575m. The process of development is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.  

    The deadliest train accident happened in February 2002 when at least 373 people were killed when fire swept through an overcrowded train near Al-Ayyat in Giza. The train was taking Egyptians home for Eid Al-Adha.  

  • In Pictures: Street vendors removed from Ramsis Square

    In Pictures: Street vendors removed from Ramsis Square

    Security forces removed street vendors from Ramsis Square early Sunday, deploying armed vehicles into the area.

    According to an eyewitness, vendors called upon thugs when the security forces first attempted to move them to the Ahmed Helmy bus stop.

    “Security forces started firing at them, and in seven minutes the area was clear,” he said.

    However, state media reported that vendors did not resist, and that the operation was conducted in approximately one hour, causing a delay in traffic.

    Armed Personnel Carriers and Central Security Forces are now surrounding the square and are positioned in front of Al-Azbakeya and Al-Fagala police station.

    Current figures show there are approximately six million informal street vendors across Egypt. In August, the Ministry of Interior relocated street vendors from Downtown to Al-Torgoman.

  • Street vendors removed from Ramsis Square

    Street vendors removed from Ramsis Square

    Street vendors occupy marked out stall positions near Talaat Harb Street in Downtown Cairo in August 2012 (Photo by: Mohamed Omar)
    Street vendors occupy marked out stall positions near Talaat Harb Street in Downtown Cairo in August 2012
    (Photo by: Mohamed Omar)

    Security forces removed street vendors from Ramsis Square early Sunday, deploying armed vehicles into the area.

    According to an eyewitness, vendors called upon thugs when the security forces first attempted to move them to the Ahmed Helmy bus stop.

    “Security forces started firing at them, and in seven minutes the area was clear,” he said.

    However, state media reported that vendors did not resist, and that the operation was conducted in approximately one hour, causing a delay in traffic.

    Armed Personnel Carriers and Central Security Forces are now surrounding the square and are positioned in front of Al-Azbakeya and Al-Fagala police station.

    Current figures show there are approximately six million informal street vendors across Egypt. In August, the Ministry of Interior relocated street vendors from Downtown to Al-Torgoman.

  • 68 protesters fined EGP 50,000 each in 25 January anniversary trial

    68 protesters fined EGP 50,000 each in 25 January anniversary trial

    The family of the defendants gathered outside the court. (Photo by Amira El-Fekki)
    The family of the defendants gathered outside the court.
    (Photo by Amira El-Fekki)

    The Qasr El-Nil Misdemeanour Court, headed by Judge Ahmed Abdullah, issued verdicts against 68 defendants charged with breaking the Protest Law on the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution.

    The judge ordered a fine of EGP 50,000 against each defendant over charges of protesting without prior notification tot the government and obstructing roads.

    Abdullah, however, acquitted the defendants of organising a public assembly, which is punishable by prison under Article 7 of the Protest Law.

    The court session was held at Tora Police Institute amidst a large media presence. Families of the defendants were relieved as they waited outside court to discuss further steps with the defence lawyers.

    According to defence lawyer Mohamed Fathy, who said there will be an appeal against the verdict, the defendants should be released before the court looks into appeals.

    “In other words, with the first appeals session, the judge should order the release of the defendants, without a bail,” he said.

    Some parents asked lawyers if the defendants would be released as soon as they had paid the fine. Fathy told them that this was a valid option; however it would mean that the defendant accepts to be charged, while appealing the verdict aims at clearing their names from any crimes.

    Despite feeling positive about the judge not sentencing any defendant to jail, Fathy said the fine was still a punishment.

    A total of 80 people were arrested in protests on 25 January which marked the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. Among them, 12 minors were previously acquitted, and the remaining 68 includes one young woman.

    She and three others are members of the leftist Bread and Freedom Party. Mohamed Douma, a defendant in the case, belongs to the group of injured during the January revolution in 2011.

    Activists Mona Ezzat and a media officer for the party previously told Daily News Egypt there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to release Douma due to his health condition.

    “Douma is blind and he suffers a problem in the chest due to birdshot he had received once,” Ezzat stated.

    Charges in the case are related to breaching the Protest Law, and include an illegal public assembly, thuggery, violence, and assaulting security officers. Samir said protest cases are usually categorised as misdemeanours, with the exception of a few cases, where the defendants are accused of possessing firearms.

    “Many of them are injured, without an arm or a leg. They were demanding retribution to the martyrs and injured of the revolution after four years of not obtaining any,” defence lawyer Sameh Samir argued in an earlier court session.

    Lawyers of the defendants had also claimed that the conditions of their arrests and detention were illegal. The defendants “disappeared for two days”, and were not granted the right to a lawyer or even call a relative, even during questioning.

    Lawyers were allegedly denied entry by security forces of a Central Security Forces (CSF) camp, which is an illegitimate detention centre. The defence also argued that the police and prosecution reports’ contained conflicting information about the time of the arrests on that day.

  • Court adjourns trial of 68 defendants in revolution anniversary protests case

    Court adjourns trial of 68 defendants in revolution anniversary protests case

    Relatives of defendants in 25 January trial case on 3 March managed to enter court,wave to them through dark glass cage ( Photo by Amira El-Fekki)
    Relatives of defendants in 25 January trial case on 3 March managed to enter court,wave to them through dark glass cage ( Photo by Amira El-Fekki)

    Qasr El-Nil Misdemeanor Court adjourned to 10 March the trial of 68 defendants on protest charges, due to disputes that erupted between regular and human rights’ lawyers during the session held Tuesday at Tora Police Institute.

    A total of 80 people were arrested in protests on 25 January which marked the fourth anniversary of the revolution. Among them, 12 minors were previously acquitted, and the remaining 68 include one young woman, defence lawyer Sameh Samir told Daily News Egypt.

    Lawyer Mohamed Fathy added he was defending three people including two 19-year-old men and 21-year-old Abdul Rahman Tarek, a member of 6 April Youth Movement. Tarek was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia in the Shura Council case, because the Ministry of Interior failed to bring him to court to attend his session.

    Several rights lawyers agreed to coordinate defence arguments by dividing the defendants among them. Samir was the first one to make his claim for four defendants and argued that the conditions of their arrests and detention were illegal.

    Samir said security forces detained the protesters in a Central Security Forces (CSF) camp which is not a legitimate detention place. “They disappeared for two days and were not granted the right to a lawyer or even call a relative,” Samir said.

    “They were questioned under those circumstances, without our presence, despite that security forces noted that the lawyers were waiting outside but prevented them from entering,” he continued. Samir also argued that the police and prosecution reports’ contained conflicting information about the time of the arrests on that day.

    Samir, a member of the independent Front to Defend Protesters, was followed by fellow rights’ lawyer Mokhtar Mounir who showed the judge a copy of a newspapers in which an article was published Tuesday about the Prosecutor General’s decision to release 120 detainees for bad health conditions.

    Mounir said that one of the defendants in the case was included in that list. Defence lawyers said prosecution claims were inconsistent with the events of the protests, the times of arrests, evidence presented, and locations of the protests.

    “Many of them are injured, without an arm or a leg. They were demanding retribution to the martyrs and injured of the revolution after four years of not obtaining any,” Samir claimed, adding that protesters have the right to chant for or against whomever they wish, especially on such an occasion.

    However the session was interrupted because some of the defendants had hired more than one lawyer, which pushed those lawyers to object the space given to rights’ lawyers and asking to step in as well. The judge adjourned the session for five minutes to give them time to sort the issue out.

    After lawyers could not settle the conflict, the judge adjourned the case. The female defendant in the case yelled from behind bars at the lawyers saying “I don’t want you, I don’t want any of you!”

    Lawyers met with the families of the defendants outside court and asked them to chose which lawyers they wanted, adding that prominent rights lawyer Khaled Ali will attend next time, willing to take defendants who have no lawyers, provided he is their only defence.

    Families reactions’ were calmer than expected and many supported the human rights’ lawyers.

    An EU representative and a lawyer attended the trial to monitor the process but were not authorised to speak to the press. Families of the defendants had arrived to attend the session around 10am at the Police Insititute of Tora but were not allowed inside court until the trial started at 4pm.

    One young woman managed to get in for having a lawyers’ card. “My 19-year-old brother is among the defendants and was arrested during protests in Ramsis,” she briefly told Daily News Egypt.

  • 12 minors acquitted of charges among 25 January anniversary detainees

    A Cairo court acquitted Sunday 12 minors arrested on charges of illegal protests on 25 January, marking the revolution’s fourth anniversary, according to defence lawyer Sameh Samir.

    Samir was positive ahead of the verdict, and previously told Daily News Egypt: “It is a small case of random arrests.”

    The defendants are part of a larger group arrested in the Downtown Cairo area, and number 80 in total. Their trial was scheduled to start last Tuesday at the Qasr Al-Nil Misdemeanour Court. However, Samir said that police authorities did not bring the defendants to court, resulting in postponement of the trial.

    This has become recurrent in trials involving detained protesters, according to rights’ lawyers, to keep detainees imprisoned for a longer period under temporary detention pending trial. Samir explained that prosecution authorities can set a date for a trial, but that the Ministry of Interior is also free to bring or keep the defendants from attending their court hearings.

    During the Shura Council trial, a young man was sentenced to 15 years in absentia after failing to attend a court session. Media Spokesperson for the 6 April Youth Movement Sherif El-Roubi identified the defendant as a member of the group arrested during protests commemorating the revolution’s anniversary, currently in police custody.

    On 20 January, a group of human rights advocates and activists, including Laila Soueif, launched an initiative named “Freedom for the children, freedom for the future”. The initiative was inspired by and involved members of a popular group supporting political detainees called ‘Freedom for the Brave’.

    The group said there were at least 478 minors detained in political cases. The father of a 16-year-old detainee said he was arrested following a complaint by a man who was working on Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s presidential campaign. “He accused my son of destroying the posters,” the father said in a video published by the campaign’s Facebook page.

    The father claimed his son has been detained since May in a Central Security Forces camp in Banha, an illegal detention centre and where visits are almost completely banned. The father said that every time he tried to obtain a permit to be able to see his son, he was told by authorities that the area is ‘a military zone’, falling outside of their control.

    The man also spoke of his sons’ colleagues, knew them by name, as well as details on their cases. He said that several have been transferred to military trials on terrorism charges.

    “My question to the authorities is: if you categorise a child as a terrorist, what would you expect him to become when he grows up?”

  • Prosecution appeals Ramsis bathhouse verdict

    Prosecution appeals Ramsis bathhouse verdict

    Snapshot from Al-Qahera w Al-Nas TV channel showing the defendants arrested and tied by the police, while journalist Mona Iraqi is filming the arrests. (Photo from Mona Iraqi official Facebook page)
    Snapshot from Al-Qahera w Al-Nas TV channel showing the defendants arrested and tied by the police, while journalist Mona Iraqi is filming the arrests.
    (Photo from Mona Iraqi official Facebook page)

    The Public Prosecution ordered late Monday an appeal on the verdict of the acquittal of the 26 defendants in the ‘Ramsis bathhouse’.

    On Monday, the Azbakeya Court acquitted all the defendants, after they faced charges of debauchery and organising “same-sex orgies”, citing a lack of clarity in the case papers and the forensic department’s report.

    The court added that although the report announced that three of the defendants were “sexually assaulted”, it was not clear whiter the incident took place inside the bathhouse or not.

    The defendants were arrested on 7 December, when a force from the Egyptian anti-vice police raided the bathhouse.

    The acquittal verdict was positively by activists and human rights commentators.

    Solidarity with Egypt LGBT, a campaign to reach out to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movements and individuals worldwide about LGBT issues within Egypt, welcomed the verdict. The campaign, however, stressed that the “real fight” should be directed to Article 9 of Law 10/1961.

    The law criminalises “debauchery” and prostitution, and is used to convict people accused of engaging in homosexuality.

    Tarek Al-Awadi, the defendants’ lawyer, told Daily News Egypt that he was expecting the verdict. He also vowed to file a lawsuit against investigative journalist Mona Iraqi who reported and filmed the arrests. He said that Iraqi accused the defendants of “engaging in same sex relations, without waiting for the court’s decision”.

    Al-Awadi also announced on his Facebook page the possibility of filing another lawsuit against the police officer who led the arrests.

    Since the arrests, social media users launched a hashtag on twitter calling for the trial of Iraqi, amid wide criticism waves of her journalistic performance.

    During the Monday State Department Daily Press Briefing, deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State Marie Harf told reporters: “We welcome the court’s decision that brought this case to a just conclusion; obviously we continue to stress the importance of protecting the human rights of all Egyptians.”

  • ‘Al-Fatah Mosque clashes’ trial adjourned

    ‘Al-Fatah Mosque clashes’ trial adjourned

    A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and of ousted president Mohamed Morsi runs past a burning vehicle during clashes with security officers close to Cairo's Ramses Square, on 16 August 2013. ( AFP Photo / Virgnie Nguyen Hoang)
    A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and of ousted president Mohamed Morsi runs past a burning vehicle during clashes with security officers close to Cairo’s Ramses Square, on 16 August 2013.
    ( AFP Photo / Virgnie Nguyen Hoang)

    Cairo Criminal Court has adjourned the “Fatah Mosque clashes” verdict to 6 January during the first court hearing Monday at the Torah Police Institute, due to the absence of defendants.

    State media said that the “defendants were unable to attend” the trial. The Ministry of Interior is the authority responsible for transferring detainees to court.

    The prosecution accused 494 defendants, allegedly belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, of murder and attempted murder. The defendants were also charged with vandalising the Al-Fatah Mosque, located in Ramses Square, and of interrupting prayers there. These charges come in addition to vandalising public property, holding fire weapons, and blocking public roads.

    Two days after the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-ins dispersal by security forces, Muslim Brotherhood supporters called for a protest under the slogan “Friday of Anger” in Ramses Square.

    The protests were soon dispersed by security forces, and the ensuing clashes between protesters and police left 44 dead and 59 injured. No members of the police were among the deceased, but 22 were injured.

    A group of the protesters barricaded themselves inside the mosque in fear of being shot or arrested by the police, but security forces then stormed the mosque and proceeded to arrest 494 individuals.

    In August, Mahmoud Kamel Al-Rashidy, the judge who also presided over former president Hosni Mubarak’s trial, excused himself from the case. He transferred its papers to the Cairo Appeal Court to decide which circle of the Cairo Criminal Court should follow up on the case.

    One of the defendants, Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, wrote from his prison: “I didn’t get to talk to my lawyer and the court cage was sound-proof (the one I didn’t even enter). We were beaten up, dragged down the stairs, handcuffed in threes, we were spat on and all this just because we refused to leave until we were to see a judge.”

    Halawa was only 17 when arrested, a minor according to Egyptian law. According to his sister, no evidence has been provided to show that Ibrahim was ever involved in any illegal activity – instead he has been arrested for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.

    Ibrahim’s family is concerned that he will become locked into a continuous cycle of solitary confinement extensions without ever having fair legal process. The Halawa family urge the government to demand for Ibrahim’s immediate release.

     

  • In Pictures: Clashes ensue on Ramsis street

    In Pictures: Clashes ensue on Ramsis street

    Clashes ensued on Ramsis street after Muslim brotherhood supporters congregated at Al-Fatah mosque.
    Several individuals dies and others got injured after violence erupted between the protesters, the residents and the police force.

    Photos by Ahmed Al-Malky