Scores of lawyers in Minya on Tuesday staged a sit-in at their syndicate to protest the arrest of four of their colleagues after clashes with police in Maghagha City. Six policemen and a civilian were injured.
The protesters accused the police of destroying the syndicate. Minya Governor Mamdouh Maqlad met with syndicate chairman Tarek Fouda to resolve the problem amicably.
The clashes reportedly started when a lawyer accused a police officer of slapping him in the face, which prompted his colleagues to attack the police station. Gunshots were heard to disperse the crowd, and a curfew was imposed in the area.
A similar incident resulted in a crisis between lawyers and judges in 2010 when a district prosecutor in Tanta, Gharbiya, slapped a lawyer, prompting the latter and one colleague to physically retaliate.
The two lawyers were sentenced in June to five years each in prison for allegedly assaulting the prosecutor. The verdict triggered strife between the nation's lawyers and judges and prompted numerous strikes by lawyers across the country.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
