Egypt calls for probe into protesters' deaths

Cairo: Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak with some seeking a new revolt against army rule and others celebrating the changes already achieved.

On Tuesday, as the Egyptian parliament reconvened, it seemed the members had three issues in mind: electing two Deputy Speakers of Parliament, the revolution’s martyrs and injured, and Mubarak’s trial.
 
Before the parliament members addressed the issues they found to be of greatest importance, they elected Ashraf Thabet, representative of the Al Nour Party, and Mohammad Abdul Aleem Daod, representative of Al Wafd Party, as Deputy Speakers of The Parliament.

Next, as members were called on to address issues they found pressing and offer solutions, they all demanded, regardless of their political allegiance, that Mubarak and his sons be sent to prison — like any other guilty party in the country — and for the government to quit providing the country’s former dictator with preferential treatment.

The second most pressing issue was the investigations that were opened to uncover the truth about the circumstances in which the protesters were shot.

The truth has not yet seen the light of day, as the more Mubarak’s trial progresses, more evidence convicting him, his sons and Habib Al Adly, the former Minister of Interior, disappears.

Parliament member Akram Al Shaer, a representative of the Freedom and Justice Party, and father to one of the 18-days-uprising injured, gave a moving speech addressing the state of the injured and demanded an effective investigation be opened to provide honest and conclusive results.

He also asked to be on the said’s investigation committee, and vowed that he wanted “nothing but justice” in return. Al Shaer’s speech left his fellow Parliament members in tears.

Meanwhile, Field Marshal Hussain Tantawi did not attend the second session to address the Parliament as planned. However, he did address the nation and vowed to end the state of emergency, but to apply it only to thugs. The youth, instead of being glad to hear the news, were apprehensive.

One response was: “We’ve been called thugs for a year. By the Supreme Council of Armed Forces standards we’re thugs, nothing’s changed, we’re still being hunted.”