Egypt Intensifies Crackdown on Street Protesters
December 19th, 2011WARNING: EXTREME VIOLENCE.
Via: Sydney Morning Herald:
Egypt’s military rulers escalated a bloody crackdown on street protesters over the weekend, chasing down and beating unarmed civilians, even while the Prime Minister was denying in a televised news conference that soldiers were using any force.
In a highly incendiary development, video cameras captured soldiers stripping the clothes off women they were beating on the pavement of Tahrir Square.
The contradiction in the military-led government’s statements and actions appeared to represent a shift in strategy by the military council.
After trying for months to preserve some credibility and collaboration with the political elite, the ruling generals on Saturday scarcely acknowledged the demands made by their newly appointed civilian advisory council that the military cease its violence and apologise to demonstrators.
Instead, as the crackdown entered its second day, the military council appeared to be playing to those Egyptians impatient with the continuing protests and eager for a return to stability.
”The military council is responsible for everything that happens,” Ziad el-Elaimy, a newly elected member of parliament who was beaten by the military police, said in a television interview.
