A report has detected that security forces committed violations against monitors and candidate representatives during runoffs for the first round of parliamentary elections. The report, released on Wednesday, was conducted by the Lawyers Syndicate's freedom committee. The report also highlighted brawls between Salafi Nour Party supporters and Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party supporters. It said polling station heads and security agents from the Interior Ministry prohibited monitors from entering stations and prevented them from taking photos of the polling process. Media reporters were asked to stand as far as 50-100 meters away from the polling station, the report added. Security forces outside the polling station in Sudfa al-Riyad school in Assiut prevented monitors from taking pictures of the process, the report said. They were also prohibited from taking their mobile phones inside the polling station in al-Zokhrofiya school in Kafr al-Sheikh. According to the report, the last day of runoff elections saw scuffles between supporters of competing parties in Alexandria and Port Said. The second day of the runoffs, which kicked off on Monday, saw an almost total absent by voters, the report said. It added, however, that candidates' supporters resumed campaigning outside polling stations in violation of the electoral laws. Translated from the Arabic Edition
