OCTOBER 2011

Presidential elections are set to take place in 2013, after a new constitution is written and approved by a public referendum. 9  Violent clashes break out as mostly Coptic protesters march from the neighborhood of Shobra to the Egyptian Radio and Television building in Maspero, to protest recent attacks against churches. The group is allegedly attacked by security forces from the police and the army; 25 people are killed and 229 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Security forces storm the studios of 25TV satellite channel as it airs clashes between protesting Copts and the Army. The channel is allowed to resume transmission two days later. Egypt’s ruling military council issue amended elections rules, banning the use of religious slogans in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Article No. 5, barring political parties from fielding candidates in “first past the post” seats, is cancelled. Workers at Telecom Egypt go on strike demanding the removal of the CEO, accusing him of corruption and harboring close ties with the now-defunct National Democratic Party. Churches across Cairo hold funerals for the victims of the Maspero clashes. The SCAF announces they will commission the government to form a committee that will investigate the events, assuring that legal action will be taken against those involved. Registration opens for the People’s Assembly and Shura Council elections, with parliamentary hopefuls submitting their applications at appeals courts throughout Egypt. Protesters, mainly journalists, demonstrate outside the offices of the state-owned Al-Akhbar, demanding the resignation of Minister of Information Osama Heikal over state media’s allegedly “biased coverage” during the recent Maspero clashes between Copts and the military. SCAF officials hold a press conference denying the military attacked Maspero protesters, accuse unnamed third parties of instigating the violence. Pope Shenouda III declares a three-day mourning period for the victims of the violence that took place in Maspero. A candlelight vigil is also held in Talaat Harb Square. The SCAF issues a decree prohibiting all forms of discrimination including on the basis of religion. The measure carries a maximum penalty of three months in prison and a fine of up to LE 100,000. Presidential hopeful Ayman Nour’s presidential hopes are dashed when a court upholds his 2005 conviction for forging votes and rules he is ineligible to run for political office. An Egyptian-mediated prisoner swap between Israel and the Palestinians sees the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006 by Palestinian militants during a cross-border raid from Gaza into Israel. TV presenter Yosri Fouda announces he is halting his show Akher Kalam (Last Word) after allegedly being pressured by authorities to compromise his journalistic integrity. He returns to the air three weeks later. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party becomes the first Islamist group to acquire a license to issue its own daily newspaper, which will be named after the party. Egyptian judges go on strike, demanding independence from the state, after tensions between judges and lawyers over a draft Judicial Authority law that sanctions imprisonment for lawyers found in contempt of court. Twenty-five Egyptian prisoners are released from Israeli prison in an exchange deal with Israel that sees detained US-Israeli national Ilan Grapel, accused of but not charged with spying in Egypt, walk free. Israeli sources say the released Egyptian prisoners were involved with smuggling and similar offices, not espionage or attacks against Israel. Parliamentary registration closes, with some 14,000 to 15,000 candidates vying for the 768 seats in the two houses of Parliament. More than 55 political parties (35 of them licensed after the fall of Mubarak) are fielding candidates. An Egyptian court rules that Egyptians living abroad are allowed to vote at embassies in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. 26  The two policemen accused of beating Khaled Said to death are sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter. In the courtroom, families of the convicted officers attacked Said’s family members, as outraged activists take to social media calling for stronger sentences. A few days later prison inmate Essam Atta, 24, dies in detention, allegedly tortured to death, as reported by his family. An Interior Ministry statement attributes his death to “unknown poisoning.” Journalists vote in the first Journalists’ Syndicate elections post January 25 Revolution, after the State Council overturned a lower court’s ruling that the call for elections was illegal. Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mamdouh El-Waly is elected chairman. The Mubarak trial is postponed while the Cairo Appeals Court considers a request from lawyers of the martyrs’ families to replace the judges presiding over the case. Veteran blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah is arrested on charges of inciting violence against the military during the Maspero clashes between the army and mostly Coptic protesters. A critic of military trials for civilians, Abdel Fattah refuses to be questioned by the military prosecution.