Clashes in Tahrir Square between prtestors and the police in June 29 (Photo by:reuters)
The fact-finding committee’s investigations into clashes between police and civilians on 28 and 29 June confirmed that the bloody confrontations were instigated by anonymous persons and then escalated by the families of the martyrs.
Tuesday 28 June saw altercations in front of the ministry of interior as well as at the Balloon Theatre in Agouza between martyrs’ families and police forces. Certain reports indicated that unknown thugs penetrated the theatre to wreak havoc.
The violent incident at the theatre was followed by more clashes with the police the next day in Tahrir Square. Pictures and videos of thugs taking the side of the Central Security Forces were widely circulated on the internet, raising doubts that the ministry of interior was behind the chaos.
The committee said in a press conference on Tuesday that unlicensed cars carried rocks to the square as the brawl at the Balloon Theatre, where some of the martyrs’ families were hosted by Egyptian authorities in an event to commemorate their relatives, erupted for no apparent reason.
Furthermore, the police, according to the committee, used excessive force on both days, bombarding the protesters with tear gas canisters and firing rubber bullets into them. Over a thousand were reported injured by the health ministry.
According to the committee’s investigations, the police also arrested some of the protesters while they were being treated by paramedics, further enraging the demonstrators and causing pandemonium.
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