Salafi leader denies police were behind Rabaa tents' burning

CAIRO - 14 August 2017: In conjunction with the 4th anniversary of the Rabaa dispersal, questions are still being asked regarding the burning of protesters bodies inside the tents that were placed at Rabaa al-Adaweya square.

In 2014, a leaked video shows Yasser Borhamy, vice president of ‘Salafist Call,’ sitting with a number of Islamists speaking about how the bodies were burnt, as well as other violations carried out by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood during the protest.

“The main goal of the Brotherhood was large-scale killings and bloodshed, and there were weapons,” he said during the video.

He denied that the army and police forces burned the bodies, saying that the demonstrators were using chemicals to reduce the effect of tear gas, which caused the burning of tents and bodies.

Borhamy acquitted the security forces, and attributed the responsibility to the Brotherhood protesters and their leaders.

During the dispersal, clashes erupted between protesters and security forces resulting in the death of dozens from both sides. Some of those bodies were kept inside the tent to be transferred to the hospitals, but suddenly fire broke out and they were incinerated. Security forces were wrongly accused of burning these bodies.