Activist Mamdouh Hamza and Ghad Party founder Ayman Nour have been summoned to testify on Tuesday by Justice Ministry employees investigating last month's clashes between the military and protesters outside the cabinet building, according to state news wire MENA.
Apparently, interrogators decided to question the two men after suspects accused of setting the Institut d'Egypte on fire mentioned their names during questioning.
On 16 December military forces violently dispersed a weeks-long sit-in outside the cabinet, which was a protest against the appointment of Kamal al-Ganzouri as prime minister by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Ganzouri was previously prime minister during the Mubarak era. Protesters were also demanding that the SCAF immediately transfer power to a civilian body. At least 17 people were killed by the military during the clashes.
At a press conference after the violence, the SCAF accused Mohamed Hashem, a publisher whose renowned Merit publishing house is located in downtown Cairo, of inciting protesters against the army and distributing helmets and gas masks. The SCAF alleged that the violence was fomented by a mysterious “third party” with the aim of destabilizing Egypt and bringing about state failure.
