New York Times
1st August 2011

Egyptian security forces on Monday advanced to destroy the tents of a sit-in
that had been there since early July

CAIRO — Central Tahrir Square was forcibly cleared Monday of the remnants of a three-week-old sit-in protesting the slow pace of change since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, with hundreds of Egyptian troops and security police officers shredding tents, arresting dozens of protesters, thwacking some with truncheons and sending about 200 others fleeing into nearby streets as the Ramadan holiday began.

The army deployed at least a dozen tanks in the square, but a group of 30 to 50 protesters managed to reassemble, demanding the release of their arrested compatriots and shouting “Down with military rule!” and “We want revenge!” Army officers beat them until they dispersed.

There was no official word on the total number of injured and arrested late Monday. But a group called the Defense of Egypt’s Protesters Front, which has advocated for protesters’ rights in Egypt since the revolution, said at least 39 people were arrested and that five others, including two children aged 9 and 12, were missing.

Squads of troops and police officers, including many in plain clothes, used sticks to shred the tents in the square, ripping the cloth fabric so the tents could not be rebuilt. Dozens of garbage workers then moved in to clear the wreckage and load it into trucks.

Some military officers also stopped people holding cameras from photographing the eviction, and destroyed a few cameras and cell phones of others who had taken pictures. A few officers were seen violently removing two young men from the square and herding them into a back alley. “Come on, walk!,” one officer could be heard saying as he punched one youth in the back of his head.

The protesters, including women and children, had been camped out in the square since July 8 to demand more political openness and faster justice for crimes committed during Mr. Mubarak’s three decades in power. They accused the interim military government of protecting Mr. Mubarak, who was toppled in a revolution on Feb. 11, and his cronies.

The sit-in had dwindled with the approach of Ramadan, one of Islam’s most important holidays, when people fast and pray during the day, and feast at night. Those protesters who remained were viewed by local merchants and others living and working near the square as an increasing annoyance, blocking the square and disrupting traffic. Many bystanders cheered when the army and security police moved in.

“Finally!,” said Ramzy Youssef, 38, watching workers toss debris from sit-in into garbage trucks. “The protest was fine, but we also want space to breathe, we want to see the traffic flow.” Another bystander, Mohamed Magdy, said that with many of the protesters having left the square by Sunday, “only thugs were remaining.”

Other bystanders were angry over the forced eviction.

“You can’t remove them like this, like animals!,” said Ahmed Adib, 26, arguing with a group who said they supported the move. Mr. Adib said he had participated in the sit-in himself but, like many of the protest leaders, he had favored ending it a few days earlier before the advent of Ramadan, which lasts until the end of the month.

“This was expected but not acceptable,” said Ahmed Abd Rabbo, a spokesman for the Democratic Front, a party that includes activists from the anti-Mubarak revolution. “I was hoping we would disperse the sit-in willingly, but we failed.”

The eviction came less than two days before Mr. Mubarak, 83, is to go on trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters before he was ousted. The judge who will oversee the trial said Sunday that the proceeding would be held in a large Cairo hall and broadcast on Egyptian television. However, it remained unclear whether Mr. Mubarak would be present.

The former president, a cancer survivor, has been held in custody in a hospital in Sharm el Sheik, the Sinai resort where he has a summer home. He has complained of numerous maladies, and doctors reported last week that he had refused to eat solid food.

Officials have said he is too weak to be jailed, but many Egyptians see his illnesses as ploys to avoid prosecution. On Sunday, state radio, quoting hospital officials, said Mr. Mubarak’s health was “satisfactory.”