Remembering Khaled Said

A few hundred activists gathered today in front of the Ministry of Interior in Cairo in memory of Khaled Said, murdered by policemen a year ago

The protest started with a few activists chanting “freedom” and raising anti-torture slogans, then numbers grew bigger and chants became more focused on “cleansing the security sector” as nothing has changed in their opinion. “You removed El-Adly, and put El-Essawy. Everything remains the same!” “Essawy, you have been in office for three month and policemen are useless and thugs are everywhere!” Chants continued dubbing the Ministry of Interior the “Ministry of Torture” and policemen, killers. “You valued policemen, tell me how many people did you kill?” was a much-chanted slogan.
Protesters were angry because since the revolution, people are still being beaten, tortured and murdered by policemen. Reference was made to the latest torture case where a driver was allegedly killed by policemen in Azbakeya police station a week ago: “This driver was murdered and El-Essawy is responsible.”
Slogans also focused on calls for quick and open trials for regime figures and officials. “If Khaled Said was the son of a minister, El-Adly would have been killed by now,” chanted activists.
Activist Nadine Abu Shadi, 23, feels her presence today is particularly challenging, because this is the first protest in front of the Ministry of Interior since the revolution. “We are sending a message that we are not confined to Tahrir Square. Also, it is challenging because this protest is all activists and policemen know us well from before the revolution,” said Abu Shadi who expects the peaceful protest may turn violent towards night.
But up to the time of publication the protest was peaceful, with a little provocation as some policemen filmed protesters using cameras and mobile phones and made threatening "cut throat" gestures at activists from the windows. Protesters replied with angry slogans, but it was soon contained and everyone chanted “peaceful” and “long live Egypt.”
On Qasr El-Nil bridge, dozens of protesters lined up in silence carrying Khaled Said's photos and other photos of martyrs killed during the Egyptian Revolution, in response to a Facebook invitation across Egypt to stand in silence in memory of Khaled Said. The same happened on the Corniche in Alexandria and in the Delta Governorates.
Someone kept trying to convince protesters at the Qasr El-Nil bridge to go home after the protest and not to join the protest at the Ministry of the Interior. But of course most of them did join the ministry protest. And activists managed to spray Khaled Said's photos on the gates of the ministry itself, cheering and chanting “We will not be silenced! We will not forget!”
The protest then marched to Tahrir square, the symbol of the Egyptian revolution.