CAIRO - The Ahly Ultras groups expressed their satisfaction about the Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud's decision to refer 75 suspects in the case of the Port Said massacre to the criminal court. On their Facebook page they described the decision as a first good step towards fulfilling the rights of the martyrs. On Thursday, Egypt's Prosecutor-General referred 75 people to the criminal court in the wake of the violence that left at least 74 Ahly fans dead. "The defendants include nine officers and three officials and fans of the Al-Masry club. Two minors will be sent to the children's court," the Prosecutor's office announced in a statement. "Even more important is the number of police officers and Al-Masry officials among the defendants," the group added, stressing that this was just the first serious step. On February 1 in the coastal city of Port Said, an Egyptian Premier League match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly turned violent and claimed the lives of at least 74 Ahly fans and injured around 1,000. Seconds after the final whistle, thousands of supporters of the Port Said team Al-Masry invaded the pitch, throwing bottles and rocks at Cairo Al-Ahly fans. Ahly declared that the first week of every February will be known as ‘Ahly Martyrs Week'. The Ultras groups held a huge peaceful march last Thursday that started at the Ahly headquarters in Gezira and went to the Prosecutor-General's downtown office. The participants urged officials to exercise swift retribution. The Executive Committee of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), headed by Anwar Saleh, decided last week to cancel the Premier League 2011-12 season and instead hold a friendly tournament called ‘The Martyrs Cup'. But the EFA decided to postpone the The Martyrs Cup indefinitely when Ahly and Zamalek Ultras threatened to invade the pitch, if the tournament and the Egypt Cup went ahead before the perpetrators of the Port Said massacre were caught and punished. The two groups posted statements to that extent on their Facebook pages, mainly focusing on swift justice and punishment for those who killed the fans. "We want the investigation results announced with full transparency. We won't let this disaster be forgotten," the two groups added in their statement. Ahly had the first Ultras fan group in Egypt, the Ahly Fan Club. In 2007 the group split into two big Ultras groups, Ultras Ahlawy (UA07) and Ultras Devils (UD07). Ultras Ahlawy are based in Cairo, while Ultras Devils are in Alexandria and have members in other coastal cities. Ultras Ahlawy consist mostly of well-educated graduates and young people of every social class. The EFA was due to announce its Al-Masry sanctions last week, but postponed it for security reasons. According to EFA sources, the sanctions could include relegation and a home-play ban lasting three years. EFA spokesman Azmi Megahed said that the EFA had yet to receive the Interior Ministry's approval of securing the matches and holding The Martyrs Cup. "If we don't get the approval, we will ask the armed forces to secure the friendly tournament, particularly since the matches will be held in four army stadiums; the Military Stadium, el-Geish Stadium, Borg el-Arab Stadium and Haras el-Hedoud Stadium,” he elaborated. "The draw for the friendly tournament will be held on March 21 and 18 clubs divided into two groups. The matches will start on March 29, but without the clubs' international players,” said an EFA statement. The statement adding that the Egypt Cup would be played as scheduled before May 20 but behind closed doors and again without the clubs' international players. An Ahly Ultras member spoke on condition of anonymity and said that referring 75 suspects to the criminal court represented only 3 per cent of the Ultras' demands; they would continue to push for justice. "We will be present at the trials," he added. The Prosecutor-General, Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, also urged officials to install surveillance cameras in all football stadiums that would host matches in the coming period, to monitor all the stadiums' approaches and the entire internal and external areas.
