Egyptian protesters, MP claim they were attacked by Morsi supporters

Ahram Online, Tuesday 10 Jul 2012

Prominent liberal MP, along with opponents of Sunday's presidential decree restoring People's Assembly, claim they were assaulted by new president's supporters outside Cairo Administrative Court

 

Egyptian protesters and a prominent MP were attacked on Tuesday as they exited the Cairo Administrative Court, which had been looking into a lawsuit raised against a decree issued by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday reinstating the dissolved People's Assembly (the lower house of Egypt's parliament).

While the attackers' identity remains unclear, victims allege they were Morsi supporters.

On Tuesday, the Cairo Administrative Court postponed to 17 July rulings on dozens of lawsuits filed against Morsi's presidential decree. 

In a press statement, members of the Free Egyptians party (founded by Coptic billionaire Naguib Sawiris) accused supporters of both the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party of assaulting them – verbally and physically – at a popular protest against Sunday's presidential decree.

Free Egyptians party members went on to compare the attacks to the methods used by ousted president Hosni Mubarak's now-defunct National Democratic Party.

Among those assaulted on Tuesday was liberal MP Hamdi El-Fakhrani, who told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website that he had been injured in the attack and his clothes torn off.

"I could have died if the police hadn't intervened," he was quoted as saying.

The MP has reportedly filed a police report against Morsi's supporters.

Political expert Ammar Ali Hassan, for his part, sent a message to leading Muslim Brotherhood figures Essam El-Erian and Mohamed El-Beltagy, which read: "What your young cadres did to MP El-Fakharani was shameful."

Lawyer Negad El-Boraei, meanwhile, described the attacks as "fascism" and "an attempt by the Brotherhood to terrorise whoever opposes them."

Short link: