Coptic youth and political movements wore black and demonstrated on Monday evening in Shubra, a northern district of Cairo, to pay tribute to those who died at Maspero on 9 October.
Protestors chanted slogans against the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, such as “Down with the Field Marshal,” “the Field Marshal bears responsibility,” “Christians and Muslims are one hand,” and “Down with military rule.”
Political and rights activists accuse armed forces personnel of killing demonstrators outside the state TV building, Maspero, during a demonstration organized by Copts on 9 October. The violence resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, most of whom were Copts. The official version of the incident is that anonymous gunmen shot at demonstrators and the armed forces.
Protestors re-iterated the necessity that the killers be brought to justice and that citizenship, justice and equality for all, in conformity with the principals of the 25 January revolution, be achieved.
Among the movements that participated in the sit-in were Youth for Justice and Freedom, the Revolutionary Socialists, the Arab Socialist Coalition Party, Labor Democratic Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Maspero Youth Union, the Public Committees for the Protection of the Revolution, Copts Without Restraints and Copts for Egypt.
A group of Coptic activists will organize a candlelit sit-in on Wednesday during Pope Shenouda's weekly sermon to pay tribute to the Maspero victims, Coptic sources said.
Egyptian Coptic rights groups demanded this week that an independent investigative body be established with the right to question army officers who took part in the incident, and which will also investigate the role of state TV in inciting citizens to attack the demonstrators.
The Egyptian government said the military prosecution is investigating, saying that the victims included army personnel. Rights activists rejected the idea that a military body investigate events the army was involved in.
