- As tens of thousands of Egyptians take to the streets in another day of protest, the Nobel-laureate opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been attacked with a police water cannon and reportedly taken into custody. Egypt has ordered telecom companies to suspend service in cities where protests are occurring. The internet has been shut down across nearly the entire country.
- Clashes between protesters and security forces in Egypt have escalated. Protesters have been attacked with (US-made) tear gas, stun guns, rubber bullets, and batons. Police armored cars have been set on fire in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez, some allegedly by the police themselves to justify a crackdown. Police have withdrawn from some areas, overwhelmed by the protesters. An unarmed protester in Sinai was shot and killed after throwing a rock at police. Al Jazeera reports that a woman was killed by a tear-gas canister in Cairo. Journalists have been especially targeted by security forces, including Al Jazeera’s Cairo office. During Friday-afternoon prayers, though, protesters and police shook hands and prayed together in the streets.
- Between 20 and 50 percent of protesters in Egypt this week have been women, a much higher percentage than usual.
- In Jordan, thousands are marching to demand that the royally-appointed prime minister step down and that free elections be held for his replacement.
- Myanmar’s courts have rejected the bid of pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to reinstate her banned National League for Democracy party.
- Marking the ninth anniversary of the camp’s opening, prisoners at Guantánamo have been holding an ongoing protest with a sit-in and signs for the last two weeks.
- Student protests against the Erdoğan government in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday have been put down violently by police.
- British trade union leaders announced plans today for massive strikes and protests against public-sector job cuts.
- The “Creech 14” activists who protested US drone attacks at a Nevada military base were finally sentenced—to time already served.
“An unarmed protester in Sinai was shot and killed AFTER THROWING A ROCK AT POLICE.”
Throwing a rock makes him armed now doesn’t it…
BTW: You’ve gone through a litany of what the government’s violence, but none of the violence on the other side of the protesters?
Thanks for the comment. You’ll see from my last post that I’m in no way sympathetic to rock-throwing. However, I don’t think throwing a rock and shooting someone dead from a considerable distance counts as being “armed” in the same way.
The violence on the part of the protesters is truly saddening. I hope that they realize that they can achieve their goals without it. But decades of harsh repression backed by a massive security apparatus means they have a long way to go before they catch up with the violence they’re up against.
I do not advocating lethal force for rock chuckers, but I (and I doubt you as well) don’t know the whole situation.
With this many people involved and some shady characters on both sides, I’m shocked the body count is as low as it is.