The Port Said Criminal Court decided on Wednesday to schedule a session on 26 January to sentence 73 defendants accused of involvement in the Port Said football massacre on 1 February 2012.
The defendants, including nine top officials in the Port Said Security Directorate, face charges of killing and inciting the killing of 74 football fans, many of whom were members of the Ultras Ahlawy, following a football game in Port Said between Cairo’s Ahly and home team Masry.
The court, headed by Judge Sobhy Abdel Meguid and advisers Tareq Gad Metwally and Mohamed Abdel Karim, decided to ban media discussion of the case starting Friday.
A verbal altercation occurred between families of the defendants and the victims inside the courtroom Wednesday. The two sides exchanged insults which nearly escalated into physical clashes during the defense’s argument.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
