An Egyptian journalist on Sunday filed a lawsuit against Egypt's military leader, Hussein Tantawi, to demand the reopening of streets in downtown Cairo that were closed amid the breakout of deadly clashes last month.
Khaled al-Balshy, editor-in-chief of Al-Badeel news website, also filed his case against the governor of Cairo and the local development minister for keeping Qasr al-Aini and Mohamed Mahmoud streets closed to pedestrians and vehicles long after the end of the clashes.
Balshy represents the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in the suit.
The armed forces built at least three concrete walls surrounded by barbed wire and deployed security forces in the area after clashes between protesters and security forces last month.
On 16 December, military forces violently dispersed a sit-in outside the cabinet that protested the appointment of Kamal al-Ganzouri as prime minister.
Ganzouri was prime minister in the 1990s under former President Hosni Mubarak. Protesters at the sit-in also demanded that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) immediately transfer power to a civilian body. At least 17 people were killed in the clashes.
The resulting traffic detours have exacerbated an already massive traffic problem in the busy capital.
The case, filed before the State Council Administrative Court, calls for removing the stone walls and dismantling the barbed wire in order for traffic to flow normally.
The SCAF says it was forced to set up the road obstacles to prevent a renewed breakout of clashes.
"The closure of these streets has led to the disruption of traffic, forcing vehicles to drive in the wrong direction in violation of the law and to use side streets that are not fit to hold such a large number of vehicles," Balshy said. "This has caused chronic traffic jams in the center of the city that inevitably waste time and effort and slow down production."
