Egypt's interior ministry asks hospitals to report injured protesters
Egypt’s interior ministry instructed staff at major hospitals in Cairo to report the names of people injured during protests, ahead of calls for people to return to the streets on Friday to demonstrate against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Doctors who work at Kasr Al Ainy, one of Egypt’s oldest hospitals built in 1827, confirmed that the message from the interior ministry was delivered to them.
Sources told MEE that there was a police presence inside the hospital and that ambulances were being inspected as they came and went.
Egyptian activists warned on social media that the purpose behind the message was to arrest people injured during the protests.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Translation: They shut down the road of Kasr Al Ainy and diverted the route.
The road to Kasr Al Ainy Hospital was reported to be closed off by security forces, as it is near Tahrir Square, the main location for protests in Cairo which was locked down along with the rest of the city centre by police early on Friday morning.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested since protests broke out last Friday, in the biggest display of opposition to the government since a brutal crackdown on dissent in the aftermath of the military coup that brought Sisi to power in 2013.
Nonetheless, protesters returned to the streets in several locations on Friday, including in El Warraq in Giza, and also in Qena and Luxor.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
