Several political movements have announced their participation in a demonstration in Tahrir Square on Friday, and say they will organize marches toward the Defense Ministry to protest the Wednesday’s attack on a sit-in in Abbasseya that left anywhere from seven to 20 people dead.
The political movements have agreed on slogans calling for the transfer of power from the military council to civilians and the cancellation of Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which stipulated that the Presidential Elections Commission’s decisions cannot be challenged in court. Protesters will also demand that the perpetrators of the Abbasseya violence be revealed.
Kefaya movement spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Aziz told state-owned news service MENA that the movement will take part in a march to Abbasseya Square that will start from Fatah Mosque in Ramses Square after Friday prayers. He added that the movement is committed to keeping protests peaceful.
The Democratic Front of the April 6 Youth Movement said it will take part in the demonstrations “to show solidarity for the victims and martyrs and to denounce the policy of oppression and killing used against demonstrators.” The front accused security forces of kidnapping two of its members en route from Sharqiya to Cairo to join protesters outside the Defense Ministry.
The Ghad al-Thawra and the Social Democratic parties and the Youth for Freedom and Justice Movement will also take part in the protest.
Mohamed Morsy, the Freedom and Justice Party’s presidential candidate, said that popular support for the protest is very high.
In Alexandria, political movements called for a protest denouncing the incidents of Abbasseya under the slogan, “The Friday of the End.”
Abul Ezz al-Hariry’s presidential campaign in Alexandria announced their participation in Friday’s protests. The campaign released a statement saying, “We hold the military council responsible for the unjustified attack on Egyptian citizens and confirm the necessity of Egyptian institutions guaranteeing the right of peaceful sit-ins and freedom of expression.”
The state-owned Al-Ahram daily reported the People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny and Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmy, both of the FJP, urged protesters to demonstrate in Tahrir Square tomorrow and to avoid the Defense Ministry. They said the right of protest is guaranteed for all as long as there is no damage to state institutions, and stressed that there was no need to head to the Defense Ministry and clash with forces deployed there.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
