11 Martyrs and More than 600 Wounded; At Least 203 Arrested… The Public Prosecutor Delays Providing Treatment to Those Detained… Security Forces Continue to Arbitrarily Arrest and Unlawfully Detain Demonstrators

During the third day of the events surrounding the clearing of the Cabinet sit-in, the Front to Defend Egypt's Protesters crisis group observed an increase in the number of those arrested, injured and disappeared, including amongst those camped out in the streets around the Cabinet building and Tahrir Square. There was also an increase in the number of deaths.

In gathering this information, the Front relied on reports from its own lawyers, witness statements from the victims and the complaints filed by the Front on behalf of demonstrators.

Legal Proceedings

Those arrested are still being referred to the Public Prosecutor – at least 203 on the third day, more than double the number arrested in the preceding two days. The South Cairo Prosecutor took charge of their investigation. Those arrested all faced the following charges:

1. Attacking public employees carrying out their duties
2. Deliberate damage to government institutions and buildings
3. Deliberate arson of state assets, both fixed and movable

These were exactly the same charges directed against those referred to the Public Prosecutor during the preceding two days. All those arrested were detained for four days pending investigations, except one of them whom the prosecutor decided to release.

Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

Security forces continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain people in the streets surrounding the Cabinet and Tahrir Square. The Front received a number of reports of the detention of dozens of arrestees in unlawful places of detention, such as the military facility C28 in Nasr City.

A large number were referred to the Public Prosecutor, who was still investigating them until the early hours of the morning of Monday 19th December.

The Public Prosecutor's Position

The Public Prosecutor acted in negligence towards those charged and arrested. The Prosecution did not visit or search the unlawful places of detention used by the army, despite an official complaint filed by lawyers of the Front to Defend Egypt's Protesters asking the Public Prosecutor to search these places in accordance with its competence and legal responsibility under the Criminal Procedures Code.

Similarly, lawyers from the Front reported that the Public Prosecutor was lax in providing the necessary treatment to those charged. He took no action to allow physicians to check on their medical condition and decide whether they were fit to be interrogated or not, which led to the death of Mohamed Mohie in the custody of the South Cairo Court.

The Front presented three demands to the Public Prosecutor, the Chief Prosecutor of South Cairo, and the Interior Ministry to suspend investigations until those charged had been examined and their medical condition clarified, especially since a large number of those charged were badly wounded. The Public Prosecutor eventually responded and allowed a number of doctors to enter the court prison, after lawyers threatened to withdraw from the investigations.

Rise in the Number of Wounded

The number of injuries also increased, with the Front documenting more than 600 injured and receiving treatment. Most of them received first aid in the field hospitals, whilst some of them received treatment in established hospitals, among them Kasr el-Aini hospitals, Munira General Hospital, Al-Hilal Hospital, the International Eye Hospital, and Ibn Sina Hospital.

The injured faced obstacles and difficulties in accessing their personal medical reports. Most of them needed lawyers to conclude these proceedings and to put pressure on hospital administrations to release medical reports corresponding with the injuries. The Front observed that Al-Hilal Hospital in Ramses declined to receive some of the injured yesterday, receiving a report from one of the injured that he was prevented from entering the hospital.

Rise in the Number of Martyrs

The number of martyrs rose to 11, among them 2 whose identity is unknown:

1. Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed
2. Saleh Ahmed Ismail
3. Ashraf Omar Ahmed Ali
4. Mohamed Magdy al-Din Mohamed Hassan
5. Emad al-Din Ahmed Effat
6. Alaa Abd al-Hadi
7. Adel Abd al-Rahman Maslahi
8. Ahmed Mohamed Mansour
9. Mohamed Mohie Hussein

In addition to two martyrs whose identity is unknown.