Clashes broke out in Suez on Monday between military police and a number of protesters following a military court sentencing of seven detainees, arrested for protesting a military clampdown on protesters during the Abbasiya clashes which took place early May.
The seven detainees were initially arrested on 2 May outside the governorate headquarters in central Suez and were accused of inciting disorder, rioting, in addition to, assembling on a public road and obstructing traffic.
On Monday, scores of protesters stood outside the governorate headquarters voicing their opposition to the sentencing of protesters who were demonstrating in Suez against a violent crackdown on protesters by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in early May near the defence ministry in Abbasiya, Cairo.
Nine people were reported injured following the court ruling on Monday, which saw seven protesters facing jail sentences ranging from six months to three years.
At least ten protesters were also detained outside the headquarters, according to a statement made by Suez security chief Adel Refaat.
Al-Ahram Arabic’s news portal correspondent in Suez spoke with several eyewitnesses in the city who said that security forces chased many of the protesters into side streets across the city to arrest them.
Activists have been staging a sit-in outside the governorate headquarters for four days, demanding the release of all activists in military prisons for protesting the Abbasiya clashes.
The Abbasiya clashes took place outside the ministry of defence following a sit-in that was staged for one week, starting 2 May, 2012. Initially instigated by supporters of eliminated Salafist presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail, they were later joined by a number of anti-SCAF protesters.
Twelve protesters and one policeman were killed, in addition to over 300 protesters who were detained and reportedly tortured, based on reports by the No to Military Trials Campaign.
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