The 6th of April Youth Movement attempts to clean up the smear campaign waged by Egypt's ruling military by inviting the prosecutor-general to investigate claims made against them of accepting foreign funding The 6th of April Movement, one of the main political forces in Egypt, has officially volunteered to be investigated by the prosecutor-general. This official request to be investigated is an effort to counter the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' allegations that the movement received funding from foreign sources and is actually involved in“suspicious schemes that aim at creating division between the military forces and the people.” 6th of April aims to refute the accusations made by the Supreme Council in the communiqué that was posted on the Council's Facebook page earlier this week, and similar accusations murmured by ex-military men. Media outlets have been circulatingreports that the 6th of April members have received foreign training and funding in recent years. The movement's leaders counter that they have not done anything illegal. They confirmed that they participated in educational programs that emphasised the use of peaceful methods of change and trained them in social media tactics. Yesterday, the movement held a press conference at the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo as part of its attempts to respond to what members called a smear campaign. Buthaina Kamel, a former TV anchor and candidate for president, told reporters that she was in full solidarity with the 6th of April. "Today, I announce that I officially join the 6th of April movement and I am willing to stand side by side with its members in the fight," she told reporters. Hussein Abdel Ghani, a well known journalist, told reporters that "The 6th of April movement is guilty of an honourable crime: it is the crime of helping organise the great 25 January revolution. They have nothing to be ashamed of." Asmaa Mafouz, a leading founder of the Movement whose Youtube speech galvanised young people during the January uprising against the former dictator Mubarak, also attended the press conference. "We did not receive foreign funding. We each paid a LE1 (roughly $0.17 cents) in dues to keep our dreams alive. I am proud of the work we have done," Asmaa said.
