Disgraced Egypt police say they will join protests

Cairo: With Egypt bracing itself for mass opposition protests later this month, the country’s police force — notorious for its brutality — claim they have changed substantially since a popular revolt toppled president Hosni Mubarak more than two years ago.

“Dozens of police officers will participate in the June 30 demonstrations,” said Major Alaa Shukri, a member of the protest group, March 7 Officers.

Various opposition groups are preparing to hold mass protests across the country on June 30, which marks the first anniversary in office for the Islamist President Mohammad Mursi. The protesters will demand Mursi step down and call for early elections, accusing him of mismanaging the country.

Allies of Mursi — a member of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood — have vowed to hold counter rallies, raising fears about possible violence with opponents.

“Policemen have learnt a lesson from the January 25 revolution. Police now belong to the people, not the ruler,” Shukri told Gulf News.

Thousands of Egyptians took to the street on January 25, 2011, which used to be celebrated as Police Day, to protest security agencies’ oppression under Mubarak.

For the following 18 days, protests grew across Egypt, with Cairo’s Tahrir Square the focal point. Three days after the eruption of protests, the police force collapsed, overpowered by the tide of anti-Mubarak demonstrators. Mubarak asked the army to take over security before he was forced to step down on February 11, 2011.

Five interior ministers have since been replaced in bids by the government to help the public trust the police. But despite this, mistrust is still present.

Egyptian activists have repeatedly accused the post-revolt police force of keeping the Mubarak-era methods and committing rights abuses. Mursi’s opponents also accuse him of manipulating the police to detain young activists, who were instrumental in the uprising that unseated his predecessor.

“The current regime has lost its legitimacy as it has failed to keep its promises. I am confident that this time the police will not be allowed to be used as an oppressive tool to quell the people,” said Shukri of the March 7 Officers.

He added that he had signed a petition campaign launched by a grassroots protest group pushing for Mursi’s removal.

The March 7 Officers Group is named after the day this year when thousands of Egyptian policemen went on a strike to protest alleged attempts by the Brotherhood to tighten its grip on the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of security agencies in Egypt.

The strikers accused Interior Minister Mohammad Ebrahim of promoting the Brotherhood’s agenda, a claim denied by Ebrahim who kept his post in a recent cabinet shake-up.

The police’s presence on Egypt’s streets is not strong yet amid a rise in crimes of abductions, car thefts and robberies.

The government has asked for cooperation from the public. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 300 policemen have been killed by outlaws since Mubarak’s removal.

“We bury our martyrs and return to do our job,” said Hesham Saleh, the spokesman for the Police Club, a government security union. “The politicians should stop their daily attacks on us. The media should shed light on the police martyrs who sacrificed their lives to protect citizens.”

The Interior Ministry has pledged that police will stay away from sites of the June 30 demonstrations and that their duty will be to protect state institutions from potential subversion.

“The ministry is committed, according to the law, to protecting demonstrations and ensuring the safety of every participant regardless of his political affiliation,” Minister Mohammad Ebrahim said this week.

He added that the Republican Guards, not the police, would be responsible for securing the presidential palace in front of which anti-Mursi protesters plan an open-ended sit-in.