Egypt: Marches to commemorate the anniversary of April 6th movement turned violent in Cairo

Protests ib 6 April in Cairo

April 6^th movement, one of the most influential groups in Egypt which has played significant role in Egypt’s January 25 Revolution, called for the marches on Saturday, 6 April 2013, to commemorate the 5^th anniversary of the group.

The marches were planned to be held in Egypt’s capital Cairo and also in other governorates nationwide, such as Alexandria, Port Said, Mahalla and others.

In Cairo there was four marches planned starting from the different districts with the final destination being an office of Egypt’s prosecutor-general.

Several political parties and revolutionary groups have also participated in the rallies including Strong Egypt Party, Constitution Party, Free Egyptians Party, Revolutionary Socialists and others, Their parties’ and groups’ banners were seen during the marches.

Saturday's Cairo protests

The demonstrators during the rally to commemorate the 5^th anniversary of April 6^th movement were protesting against current policies of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s regime and Mohamed Morsy’s policies. The protesters accuse the current ruling power of failing to resolve the deep political and economic crisis in the country and also of failing to deliver the promises of the presidential campaign of Morsy and achieving of the goals of the Revolution. The situation in the country deteriorates, and the Islamist forces are trying to usurp the power in the state.

The key demands expressed by the protesters were dismissal of the current prosecutor-general, appointed by Morsy, respect and dignity of the citizens, release of detained political activists including several April 6^th members among them. The demonstrators have been chanting against Mohamed Morsy and his government and calling for their demands to be met.

Peaceful marches turned violent in Cairo

The initially peaceful protests reached the office of Egypt’s prosecutor-general when the demonstration suddenly turned violent. Some protesters reportedly started to chant against Egypt’s Ministry of Interior which policies didn’t change since the times of Hosni Mubarak. Then the police forces protecting the building started to fire the rounds of tear gas to disperse the protesters gathered around the building. The clashes between the protesters and security forces personnel erupted, and the additional CSF forces have been reportedly deployed in the area.

The clashes continue in the late hours of Saturday, as the police still fires tear gas. The official numbers of injured given by Egypt’s Health Ministry is eight people, but this number is likely to rise as the violent clashes continue.

For the detailed information about the Saturday