CAIRO - Egypt's Public Prosecutor Wednesday ordered the release of 33 protesters detained for demonstrating against the Government and the 30-year-old enforcement of Emergency Law. Of the 93 protesters police arrested for demonstrating in downtown Cairo on Tuesday, 60 were released the same evening, a security source said. "Prosecutor-General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered the remaining 33 protesters to be released," Mahmoud's media office said. The protesters, who gathered for a couple of hours in central Cairo near the Parliament on Tuesday, called for political change and an end to the Emergency Law. But in a city of nearly 20 million people, the fleeting demonstration of several hundred protesters was a reminder of the delicacy of steps toward political change in Egypt. Hundreds of riot police beat some people with sticks and dragged dozens away, witnesses said. They also chased off reporters and seized cameras being used by media. The pro-reform group behind the protest, the April 6 Youth Movement, is seeking constitutional amendments and an end to the Emergency Law that sanctions indefinite detentions. Such protests take on importance ahead of Egypt's parliamentary election late this year and its presidential vote scheduled for 2011. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Rushdi, the coordinator of the National Society for Change which was founded last month by the former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, said all detained protestors in teh coastal city of Alexandria were released. "The protestors were released," Rushdi said. However, he blamed the young protestrors for clashing with the policemen and insulting the public figures. "We'll hold a meeting tomorrow with all members of the soceity to review what happened and urge them to focus on change demands in their protests only," he said. ElBaradei condemned in a statement yesterday the way the protestors took to streets and the violent confrontation from the police. "The police should not have dealt so violently with those young men who call for change," he said. Amnesty International has condemned the arrests, detentions and violence meted out against the protesters. Its Middle East Director Malcolm Smart said: “This intimidation of opposition activists and government critics must end immediately. The Egyptian authorities should demonstrate their commitment to human rights by allowing and protecting peaceful protests.”
