Calm prevailed Saturay in the area around Ettehadiya Palace, with security forces and protesters both almost completely absent from the area after clashes that continued into the early hours of Saturday morning.
Security forces sealed off a number of the palace gates, including Gate 3 on Ahram Street and Gate 4 on Merghani Street, while Gate 1 on Ibrahim Al-Laqany Street was left open for presidential staff to access the palace. Security forces also placed more barbed wire in front of the palace.
Meanwhile, the Heliopolis Prosecution ordered eight suspects detained for one day pending investigations into charges related to the clashes, while 12 more suspects were interrogated on charges of illegal assembly, damaging public and private property and thuggery.
The Heliopolis Prosecution had sent a team to the palace early Saturday morning to assess the damage in the aftermath of the clashes. The team found that Gate 4 of the palace was completely burned, while guard booths in the vicinity of the same gate had been smashed.
Traces of Molotov cocktails were found in the palace yard, as well as a large number of stones which had been thrown by protestors.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm and MENA
