• Their range is very wide, from people who were at the protests or detained for breaking curfew to those who talked back at an army officer or were handed over to the army for looking suspicious or for looking like foreigners even if they were not. It’s unusual and to the best of our knowledge it’s also unprecedented for the army to be doing this.
• Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights director Hossam Bahgat • Describing the nature of some of the arrests and detainment taking place in Egypt at the moment. Bahgat’s words go against the narrative suggesting that the military is on the side of the people in the current spate of protests, and instead paint a picture that they are in fact taking part in incidents more commonly associated with the country’s notorious state security intelligence. One protester, only offering to go by his first name, Ashraf, put his experience as such: “I was on a sidestreet and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and he accused me of working for foreign enemies and other soldiers rushed over and they all started hitting me with their guns.” Harrowing. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • Permalink