Tahrir : Revolution Revisited?

It had been brewing since Friday afternoon when some martyrs' families started an open sit-in at Maspero, Egyptian Radio and TV building. By "martyrs" I mean those killed during Jan25 revolution. The families want killers of their loved ones punished. Until today those killers are out there: snipers, police officers, thugs. They are all out there: free, living, breathing, enjoying life.

I went to Maspero on Friday night. There was a small crowd. 

Trial postponed.. again!

Things got bad on Sunday at the trial of former Minister of Interior Habib el Adly and 6 of the main heads of security departments in his former ministry. The trial of Adly and friends for shooting protesters during Jan25 revolution was postponed for the THIRD consecutive time. Adly is already serving a sentence of 12 years for money laundering but this case is different. This case is what matters the most to Egyptians. He and his fellow Interior Ministry ex-figures are accused of orchestrating with police officers and policemen the repression of protesters during the revolution. Adly is accused by the General Prosecurtor of having intentionally planned the repression and having cut all communications in order to do it silently.

I was told by activists and reporters that the atmosphere was very tense.
Families of the martyrs wanted to attend the trial. They negotiated with the police that they could just send in a delegation to represent them. But the answer was: No. So when the session lasted about 3 minutes during which the court just said that the trial was postponed - again - , the families got even angrier. It has been 5 months now.

The families ended up throwing stones and marble blocks at the cars transporting el Adly and the other 6 accused, as they were driven away. Chants called for the execution of Adly. Things got pretty tense. People were so angry. Police had to take a few steps back while the army stepped in.

The reason given by the court for the postponement of the trial is a second case demanding the replacement of the judge and his team assigned to the Adly case, due to the alleged ties of the judge to the now-dissolved State Security apparatus. Actually this same judge had refused to take the Mubarak trial.

So basically the Head of the former regime, depooosed president Hosni Mubarak, is sitting in a hospital in Sharm el Sheikh while rumours about his illness are never confirmed. Many think "the man is pretending to be ill just to escape trial". His former Interior Minister is not being tried for killing protesters either. 

Tuesday clashes

The families who gathered at Maspero since Friday were told about an event honouring martyrs' families at Balloon Theatre on Tuesday. So they marched there only to be told they were not welcome. They got angry. They were carrying photos of their loved ones, killed in the protests.  I am told that a group of pro-Mubarak guys suddenly attacked the families who, I am told, tried to jump the fence into the theatre. And it got ugly. Clashes reportedly erupted between the two sides. Police showed up and at least one person was badly beaten by an electricity baton.  The video of the beating was posted by Gigi Ibrahim (@GSquare86 on Twitter). It reminded people of pre-Mubarak police practices.

It was after the video that a group of the families and their supporters marched  around the Ministry of Interior, then headed to Tahrir Square. News travelled fast and soon they were joined by many supporters and activists.

We were at a Cairo Tweet Up, a gathering of tweeps in Cairo. We ended up heading to Tahrir Square. By the time I got there it was midnight. There were about 2000 people as far as I could see and count. There were gas canisters being thrown every few minutes in different directions at the square from the surrounding streets blocked by the police. I could see just ordinary young men. Very few women were around. Some said to me : "Our martyrs sacrificed for us, we won't let them down".

Down with Military Rule

"The People Want to Topple the Mushir" (Field Marshal - Head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces)" is the chant that I heard the most. But there were other chants against the military rule in the country: "Down with the Military Rule", and against the interior ministry: "Interior Ministry still the Same, It is just a Play".

I am a journalist 

I went up close to one of the confrontation points between police and protesters near al Qasr al Aini, one of the entrances to the square. Protesters were throwing stones at the police cars. Someone gave me a stone. I said: "I am a journalist". He said : "Become an activist, try it, throw one at the "pigs" (this is what they are referred to among activists), it is a very liberating experience".  I looked at the distance and I imagined how it would be done, and I realised I would probably hit a protester unless I go really close to the police, face to face! Anyway I am an international journalist. I handed the stone to a protester. As I stood there watching, someone very close to me threw a molotov at the police. I asked if anyone knew who he was. Nobody could answer. Gas was thrown again. I ran away to another street.

I struggled to breathe.. I could see one man running with a gas canister in his hand which he picked off the ground to throw it away from the protesters, may be back at the police. But I was on the ground by then. I could not open my eyes, I was coughing and my ears / nose / throat were burning like hell.

As I recovered I found my fellow Al Jazeera colleague with his crew. I had worked the morning shift so it was up to someone else to cover any night events.  I came to Tahrir on my own, not with Al Jazeera.

Thugs?

I recognised a few activists around. I asked if there were any "thugs". I was told that there were none. I wondered who threw the molotov at the police. Someone said to me: it must be an infiltrator to make us look like violent protesters.

Back and forth protesters kept running away from the gas, then back towards the police. At one point I saw the central security forces, uniformed, standing on the square next to their car, very close to protesters.  

I saw scores of protesters lying on the floor, choking. Others seemed unconscious. But nobody was afraid. They were determined not to leave the square. It was the 28 June, exactly 5 months after the 28 January, the Friday of Wrath in the revolution.

Upcoming 8 July 

I am not surprised to see this happening. Civilians are being tried in military trials for all types of charges and accusations while ex regime officials are being tried in civilian trials, and the one trial that matters the most, is being postponed, while the deposed strongman of the regime is in Sharm el Sheikh. 

It had been brewing.

As I decided to leave the square at 1.30am when my camera and phone batteries died, I heard people chanting : "At the Square until Change Happens" (Bil Tahrir Hatta el Taghyir). I thought of 8 July which is the next planned million-march Tahrir rally.. A rally against the president of Egypt = the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) = the army. I saw army soldiers a few blocks away from the square. They were not concerned about what was happening. They were the "nice" fellows, with smiles. It reminded me of the army standing by when protesters were being massacred by thugs and police during the revolution.

So will the people of Egypt join July 8 anti-army march? We'll have to see. Many Egyptians seem to be in denial about the regime not having gone with Mubarak  and prefer to stick to the only secure (almost sacred) thing in their political life right now: the army.

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Read other posts in my Egyptian diary