Protests Flare Up In Egypt After Court Decision On Soccer Riot Case

Protests Flare Up In Egypt After Court Decision On Soccer Riot Case

This Saturday Cairo was the scene of more protests as a court in the Egyptian capital reconfirmed 21 death sentences and gave out harsh jail sentences to close to two dozen people that participated in a series of deadly soccer riots.

Seventy-four soccer fans, most of whom supported Al-Ahly died in the 2012 riot in the city of Port Said, when fans of the local team Al-Masry took to the pitch and stared a ruckus police forces couldn’t control.

The ruling made this Saturday saw a lot of angry Egyptians who accused police of brutality and who say that they are hastily losing faith in the new president and new government forces installed after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

After the sentence a lot of citizens and soccer fans from Port Said took to the street in protest trying to block the ports in the Suez Canal city, ports that are vital for the already much impoverished economy of the country.

Cairo also saw protests from Al-Ahly fans but for a different reason. They clashed with police forces accusing the justice system of handing out to light a sentence for those found guilty.

Both Port Said residents and Cairo soccer supporters, however, do seem to agree that their police and justice system have made a mess of things because of the corruption and political interference in the new Egypt.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday March 10 2013, 1:23 AM EST. Ref: Washington Post. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0