Egypt police, pro-reform protesters clash

CAIRO – Violent clashes broke out yesterday between Egyptian riot police and demonstrators supporting two pro-reform judges who accused the judiciary of helping to rig last year’s parliamentary elections.

Several hundred protesters from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Kefaya movement as well as leftist organisations gathered in downtown Cairo and were surrounded by thousands of policemen. Riot police were seen beating up protesters with truncheons.”Dozens of members of the Muslim Brothers were arrested,” the opposition Islamist movement’s spokesman Issam al-Aryan told AFP.Large sections of central Cairo were sealed off to traffic as the political opposition and reformists faced off with state security forces.”Judges, protect us from dictatorship,” chanted the protesters, who split into at least three separate demonstrations in a bid to avoid being encircled by the police.An AFP reporter saw one protester lying on the ground being kicked in the stomach by policemen.Several journalists were also manhandled by security, including a cameraman for the Qatar-based news network Al-Jazeera who was badly beaten and had his equipment confiscated, witnesses told AFP.The two rebel judges, Mahmud Mekki and Hisham al-Bastawissi, refused to enter the courtroom, where their case was supposed to be reviewed, claiming that their defence team was not allowed to come with them.- Nampa-AFPRiot police were seen beating up protesters with truncheons.”Dozens of members of the Muslim Brothers were arrested,” the opposition Islamist movement’s spokesman Issam al-Aryan told AFP.Large sections of central Cairo were sealed off to traffic as the political opposition and reformists faced off with state security forces.”Judges, protect us from dictatorship,” chanted the protesters, who split into at least three separate demonstrations in a bid to avoid being encircled by the police.An AFP reporter saw one protester lying on the ground being kicked in the stomach by policemen.Several journalists were also manhandled by security, including a cameraman for the Qatar-based news network Al-Jazeera who was badly beaten and had his equipment confiscated, witnesses told AFP.The two rebel judges, Mahmud Mekki and Hisham al-Bastawissi, refused to enter the courtroom, where their case was supposed to be reviewed, claiming that their defence team was not allowed to come with them.- Nampa-AFP