CAIRO: Several protests on Friday took Tahrir square as a starting or an ending point, in opposition to the what is now being dubbed as the “Maspero massacre” that left at least 26 protesters dead and hundreds injured last Sunday. Hundreds took to the streets on Friday marching around downtown Cairo all the way to al-Azhar calling for an end to military rule of Egypt and rejecting the notion that what happened was sectarian violence, and calling it a military attack. A large protest marched around downtown with candles and pictures of some of the victims on Thursday night denouncing the violence and paying tribute to the late protesters. The vigil started and remained for hours in Talaat Harb Square before heading to Tahrir square and gained thousands of people on the way. Another protest remained in Tahrir following the noon prayer on Friday, where tens of people rejected the army violence against the protesters and called for a fair and independent investigation in the events of Sunday. A truth seeking committee was formed by the government to investigate and they are starting their work in the town of Edfu, Aswan, where an incident against a Coptic house of worship sparked the protest in the first place. A group of Muslim men surrounded a building where Copts had been praying for years and demanded it to be shut down. Violence soon erupted and part of the building was set ablaze. Thousands of Copts demonstrated the violence and on Sunday a massive march started moving from the Shubra district to the state TV building, also known as Maspero, before the armed forces guarding the building opened fire at protesters and armored vehicles ran over others. The ruling military council denied any wrongdoing, saying the armed forces outside Maspero were not even armed. The generals showed videos of some men beating a soldier and said the protesters started the violence when they attacked the soldiers. The military said the protesters were armed with swords, knives and molotov cocktails, allegations that eyewitnesses and protesters deny strongly. “There were no arms in the protest, whole families were protesting, who would take a weapon when there are kids in the march,” one protester told Bikyamasr.com on Sunday during the violence. The military prosecutor announced on Thursday that his office would be taking over investigations into the events, sparking condemnation among activists. BM
