Dozens of people in Alexandria protested on Monday outside the northern regional military command in the Sidi Gaber neighborhood to denounce the ongoing prosecution of civilians in military courts. The protest coincides with the military prosecution's recent interrogations of a number of activists accused of inciting the violence that erupted outside the Maspero state TV building on 9 October. The clashes, which left 27 protesters - mostly Copts - and one army soldier dead, followed a Coptic-led protest denouncing assaults on churches in Egypt. On Sunday, military prosecutors detained prominent activist Alaa Abd El Fattah for 15 days, pending investigation over the charge of inciting violence against the armed forces during the rampage at Maspero. Ten other activists, including Bahaa Saber, who has been temporarily released, face the same charge. Abd El Fattah has also been charged with stealing weapons from soldiers. The Alexandria protesters chanted for the freedom for the detained activists and slammed the policies of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The protesters, joined by several activist groups such as the April 6 Youth Movement, Kefaya and Revolutionary Socialists, demanded the detainees' referral to civilian courts if they were actually involved in any practices against the country's interests. The demonstrators also slammed what they called “the policy of fabricated accusations” followed by Egypt's military rulers, saying that the technique revives tactics used by the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak against his opponents. They said these fabricated accusations are a “blatant violation of the goals of the 25 January revolution.” Translated from the Arabic Edition
