On Monday, July 4,
Egyptians showed that the revolutionary intensity that brought down
the Mubarak regime is alive when an Egyptian court released seven
police on bail. The defendants, and three others tried in absentia,
were accused of killing 17 demonstrators and injuring more than 350
earlier this year. Hundreds of furious protesters attacked the
courtroom, fought with security guards, and blocked a major highway
between Cairo and Suez for several hours in response to the release.
The trial has been postponed until September 14.
Egypt’s
prosecutor-general, Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid, responding to the strong
public protest, ordered that the decision be overturned. Amin Ramez,
a lawyer for the victims’ families rejected the prosecutor’s move
as a ploy to pacify the public, noting that he had no authority to
overturn the court’s decision.
An estimated 846
protesters were killed in the demonstrations that swept across Egypt
earlier this year, and tensions have risen as courts have not
proceeded with prosecutions against police and security forces.
