Reuters AlertNet Lite - Egypt security forces break up protest, four held

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Egypt security forces break up protest, four held

15 Mar 2007 18:49:18 GMT
Source: Reuters

CAIRO, March 15 (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces broke up a demonstration by an anti-government group on Thursday, beating activists protesting against planned constitutional amendments they see as ushering in a police state.

The roughly 30 protesters from the Kefaya (enough) movement chanted "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak" in front of a government building at the heart of downtown Cairo as close to 1,000 security men cordoned off the area and Western tourists gawked.

Dozens of plainclothes security men hauled away four protesters, shoving one to the ground and then kicking him in the head before dragging him off, witnesses said. They pummelled two others with their fists as they carried them away to security trucks, they added.

"I came because of the constitutional amendments. I am against them because they mean more dictatorship," said one protester, lawyer Sayed Mahmoud Saadawi, as security men moved in to disperse the protest.

"It is natural in Egypt that they do this. Freedom has a price," he added. The government says the constitutional amendments are part of political reforms. Opposition and civil society groups say they are a step backward and are aimed at entrenching the ruling party's hold on power.

The amendments, which parliament is expected to pass shortly, would weaken the role of judges in monitoring elections, and an anti-terrorism clause would give police sweeping powers of arrest and broad authority to monitor private communications.

Rights groups say that a current legal requirement that judges supervise elections is one of the best ways to discourage widespread abuses that have marred polls in Egypt.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Egypt profile
· View map

MORE >>

Latest news

• Egypt security forces break up protest, four held

• INTERVIEW-Egyptian film mogul plans al Qaeda movie

• U.S. condemns court decision on blogger in Egypt

• Indonesia, Egypt lack good bird flu controls-UN vet

• Egypt arrests 18 in Muslim Brotherhood crackdown

MORE >>

Last updated:Thu Mar 15 18:51:57 2007