World, Africa

Egypt arrests 13 on 5th anniversary of Cairo massacre

On Aug. 14, 2013, security forces dispersed sit-ins in Cairo and Giza, killing hundreds – at least – of unarmed protesters

14.08.2018 - Update : 14.08.2018
Egypt arrests 13 on 5th anniversary of Cairo massacre

CAIRO

At least 13 people have been arrested by the Egyptian authorities for calling for demonstrations marking the fifth anniversary of 2013’s Rabaa al-Adawiya massacre, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry.

On Aug. 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces forcibly dispersed two major sit-in camps in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawaya Square and Giza’s Nahda Square.

The two camps had been set up some six weeks earlier, after Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely-elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- had been ousted in a bloody military coup.

Estimates of the number of people killed in the sit-in dispersals range from the hundreds to the thousands.

In a Tuesday statement, the Interior Ministry said six of the 13 people arrested were members of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood who had been holding a secret meeting in Giza.

The remaining seven were detained in Egypt’s northern Beheira province, the ministry said without providing a reason for their arrest.

“We received information that they had been planning to hold meetings… with the aim of provoking citizens to mark the fifth anniversary [of the sit-in dispersal] by staging demonstrations and sowing chaos,” the ministry statement read.

After Morsi’s ouster and imprisonment five years ago, Egypt’s post-coup authorities launched a relentless crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds and throwing thousands behind bars on violence-related charges.

Last month, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief who led the 2013 coup, ruled out the notion of reconciling with the Brotherhood, accusing the group of engaging in “terrorism”.

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