Ninety families from Manshiyet Nasser demonstrated in front of the People’s Assembly Friday against the demolition of their houses. It was their second protest in the last three days.
The protesters say they were ignored after they filed a complaint with the assembly last Thursday, and threatened to go on hunger-strike until their demands are met. Unable to buy the materials needed to make protest signs, the demonstrators used paper they collected from Cairo’s trash heaps, on which they wrote slogans such as "Save us from sleeping on the sidewalk" and "May the district chairman and his aides fall".
The protesters said they were physically abused by Central Security forces yesterday morning when they attempted to meet with Mostafa Abbada, chairman of the Manshiyet Nasser district. In a statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Abbada denied the house demolitions took place, stressing that all the citizens in the neighborhood "are treated with humanity and respect."
"If anyone has a right to anything from us and can prove it with documentation, I will give it to him without any trouble. But these demonstrators can stay there for a 100 years and they’ll never see me," he continued.
In other news, tens of workers from the General Organization for Land Improvement of Sharqiya, Daqahlia and Qena joined their colleagues from the governorate of Beheira on the sidewalk in front of the People’s Assembly, demanding an increase in their salaries that currently do not exceed LE60 a month, and the establishment of an incentives program. Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza appointed Ali Ruash, a ministry employee, to negotiate with the protesters and invite them to the ministry to discuss their demands.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
