Trial of defendants in ‘Nahda sit-in dispersal’ case adjourned

CAIRO – 2 July 2018: Giza Criminal Court adjourned Monday the trial of 18 defendants charged with resisting security forces during the dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood protestors in Al-Nahda square in 2013 to September 3.

The defendants were accused of organizing protests in Giza’s Al-Nahda square, aiming to intimidate citizens, and of jeopardizing people’s lives, disturbing public security, and resisting police forces during the dispersal of the sit-in.

They also face murder charges and other charges, including storming and deliberately damaging public property and buildings, blocking roads and depriving citizens from moving freely.

Dozens of policemen and hundreds of Mohamed Morsi supporters were killed during the dispersal of pro-Morsi protests in Al-Nahda and Rabaa Al-Adaweya squares on August 14, 2013, following the ousting of former Muslim Brotherhood affiliated President Morsi on July 3, 2013. The two parties held each other responsible for the violence.

The authorities affirmed that dispersing the “armed sit-ins” was a must to “spare civilian blood.”

Since 2013, Egypt, especially Sinai, has witnessed numerous terrorist attacks and hundreds of police and army personnel have been killed in these terrorist attacks.

Following one of Egypt’s deadliest attacks on Al-Rawdah mosque located in the North Sinai city of Arish last November, which caused the death of about 311 Muslim worshippers, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi affirmed that Egypt will respond to the attack with “brutal force”.

Sisi further added that the “cowardly” attack reflects how inhumane the perpetrators are, asserting that this will not pass without decisive punishment and that justice will be served against everyone who participated, supported, funded or incited this attack on worshipers.

Based on a presidential decree, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced in February launching a military operation dubbed the “Comprehensive Operation – Sinai 2018” with the aim of eliminating terrorists in various parts of the country, mainly in North and Central Sinai, where terrorist elements hide and spread.