Egyptian politician Mohamed ElBaradei heckled during London lecture
Former Egyptian vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei was heckled while giving a lecture at a university in London on Tuesday.
Giving a lecture titled "Human Dignity and World Order" as part of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) centenary lecture series, Baradei was met with vocal opposition from several audience members.
The former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency was appointed vice-president following the July 2013 military coup against elected president Mohamed Morsi which brought the current Egyptian ruler, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to power.
However, his time in office was short lived after the Nobel Peace Prize winner resigned a month later in opposition to the violent dispersal of pro-Morsi and pro-democracy protests in Rabaa square.
Several audience members can be seen on video shouting accusations at Baradei, interrupting his speech.
As Baradei can be heard introducing the topic of human dignity into his lecture, an audience member near the front appears to instigate the disruptions.
“You wasted human dignity Mr Baradei, in your country Egypt,” she shouts.
The protester goes on to question Baradei’s omission of his support for the July 2013 military coup from the introduction to his lecture.
Another audience member then repeatedly yells “you are a killer” in English before adding “you are a traitor” in Arabic.ELBaradei's stands watching and unable to continue his speech as the protests continue and security guards from the university can also be seen attempting to remove the hecklers from the hall.
Over 1,150 people were killed across Egypt as a result of the Rabaa dispersal in what Human Rights Watch has called the “worst single-day killing of protesters in modern history”.
In the event description for the lecture, Baradei was scheduled to talk about “the inextricable link between human dignity and a sustainable world order.”
The lecture was due to focus on “the increasing global inequity and insecurity that mar our world leading to a serious crises of global governance” and to “suggest measures that are necessary to save ourselves from self destruction”.
Middle East Eye propose une couverture et une analyse indépendantes et incomparables du Moyen-Orient, de l’Afrique du Nord et d’autres régions du monde. Pour en savoir plus sur la reprise de ce contenu et les frais qui s’appliquent, veuillez remplir ce formulaire [en anglais]. Pour en savoir plus sur MEE, cliquez ici [en anglais].
