Mourners gather to bury mother, 32, gunned down by Cairo police during demonstration as death toll rises to 11 on anniversary of Arab Spring
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Shaima al-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old mother-of-one, was shot in the head by police in Cairo on Saturday
- Ms al-Sabbagh was shot during a peaceful march on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising
- Political activist was hit by birdshot ammunition, a supposedly non-lethal alternative to shot gun pellets
- Witnesses and Socialist Popular Alliance party blame police, while police say an 'infiltrator' is responsible
- Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab vowed to 'punish' whoever is responsible for killing of Ms al-Sabbagh
Dozens
of mourners gathered in Egypt's second largest city Alexandria for the
funeral of a female political activist who was allegedly killed by
police during a peaceful demonstration in central Cairo on Saturday.
Shaima
al-Sabbagh, 32, was hit in the head as police fired birdshot
ammunition, a supposedly non-lethal alternative to shot gun pellets,
into the crowd to disperse the march.
Ms
al-Sabbagh, the mother of a five-year-old boy, was shot while she
marched towards the Tahrir Square to lay a commemorative wreath on the
eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.
Scroll down for video
Tragedy: Mourners carry the coffin of
Shaima al-Sabbagh, an Egyptian protester who was killed in clashes with
the police, during her funeral on in Egypt's second city Alexandria on
Sunday
Hit: This is the moment when Ms
al-Sabbagh, 32, a Socialist Popular Alliance Party activist, was shot
and killed when police fired into the crowd to disperse the
demonstration in central Cairo on Saturday
Life lost: Ms Al-Sabbagh, a member of the Socialist Popular Alliance party was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead
Ms al-Sabbagh, from Alexandria was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead on Saturday.
Videos
posted online show Ms al-Sabbagh in a group of protesters carrying
placards and chanting 'bread, freedom and social justice' - the chief
slogan of the 2011 uprising.
She
and others carried wreaths of roses they intended to place at nearby
Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising, in memory of the fallen
protesters.
In
the videos, two masked, black-clad police officers point their rifles
in her direction before gunshots ring out and Ms al-Sabagh falls.
Tragedy: Ms al-Sabbagh leaves a five-year-old son
Ms
al-Sabbagh, a member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party who
organised the peaceful march on Saturday, was photographed the moment
she was hit.
Prime
Minister Ibrahim Mahlab said al-Sabbagh's death was being investigated
and vowed that 'whoever committed a mistake will be punished, whoever he
may be.'
The
prominent Hisham Mubarak Law Center said in a Facebook post that five
of Ms al-Sabbagh's fellow protesters who had given investigators their
account of the incident were charged with assaulting police and taking
part in an illegal demonstration.
The interior ministry said it was investigating the death, but suggested Islamist 'infiltrators' were to blame.
The Socialist Popular Alliance Party released a statement on Sunday, blaming Cairo police for Ms al-Sabbagh's death.
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak as part of the Arab Spring.
By
Sunday afternoon, Egyptian security officials said clashes between
police and Islamist protesters in an eastern Cairo district have left
nine demonstrators dead, taking the total death toll to 11.
They say the Sunday clashes in the Matariyah area also injured 13.
Authorities
had tightened security in Cairo and other cities ahead of today's
anniversary after Islamists called for protests against the government
of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who ousted
Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Sunday's
anniversary of the uprising against Mubarak is a test of whether
Islamists and liberal activists have the resolve to challenge Egypt's
U.S.-backed government once again.
As
mourners gathered for Ms al-Sabbagh's funeral, police shot and killed
'an armed pro-Muslim Brotherhood protester' in Alexandria.
The
man has been 'shooting randomly with an automatic rifle while marching
with a number of pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Alexandria's
Al-Awayed district,' Egyptian media reports.
Police
also arrested another man with an automatic rifle, also in the march,
along with two men who had Molotov cocktails,according to an interior
ministry statement.
Security
forces have been stamping out dissent since the army ousted president
Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 after mass protests
against his rule.
Dozens of protesters were killed during last year's anniversary of the revolt centred in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Separately, a bomb targeted policemen stationed outside a Cairo sports club, the sources said.
In
the Nile Delta region of Baheira, about 170 km (104 miles) from Cairo,
two militants were killed when bombs they were planting exploded, state
television reported.
In
Cairo, riot police backed by soldiers in armoured vehicles sealed off
strategic roads, including ones leading to Tahrir Square.
In her honour: The funeral cortege shout slogans during Ms al-Sabbagh's funeral in Alexandria, carrying a flag with her likeness
Police claim Ms al-Sabbagh was killed
by an Islamist infiltrator, but the socialist Popular Alliance Party
say she was killed by police shooting into the crowd
Tears: Large crowds of mourners ghathered in Alexandria to join the funeral cortege for the 32-year-old mother-of-one
Ms al-Sabbagh was a political activist and a well-known member of the left-wing Socialist Popular Alliance Party
The mother-of-one was shot during a
non-violent protest as she visited ahrir Square to lay a commemorative
wreath on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni
Mubarak
Mursi
supporters gathered near Tahrir and held up photographs of him, a
witness said. Security forces rounded them up. They also used teargas to
disperse a protest in Cairo's Ramses Square, officials said.
In the Cairo suburb of Matariya, security forces fired teargas as around 900 people protested.
Security
forces were also dispatched to Rabaa Square in northeast Cairo, where
hundreds of Mursi supporters were killed in August 2013 at a protest
camp.
Islamists have been calling for protests today, to revive what they say was the 'revolution' that overthrew Mubarak.
It also briefly brought to power Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who was toppled by the then army chief Sisi in July 2013.
Morsi's supporters often hold small rallies that police quickly disperse.
On
Friday, an 18-year-old female protester was killed in clashes in the
Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Police had warned they would confront
protests 'decisively.'
Authorities
have cracked down on the Islamists since the military overthrew Morsi
after a year in power, and hundreds have been killed in clashes.
Scores of policemen and soldiers have also been killed in militant attacks.
Shots fired: Ms Al-Sabbagh can be seen, right, hitting the ground as a fellow protester comes to her aide
Fellow protesters said Al-Sabbagh was shot by police trying to disperse those involved in the protest march
Arab Spring: Ms al-Sabbagh was shot
and killed during a protest held on the eve of the anniversary of the
2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak
A fellow protester carries the injured Ms al Sabbagh from the scene after she was shot
In mourning: The coffin of Shaimaa el-Sabagh is carried out of the Zenhom morgue in Cairo, early Sunday
The
crackdown has also extended to leftwing and secular dissidents who
initially supported Morsi's overthrow but have since turned against the
new authorities, accusing them of being authoritarian.
Yesterday's central Cairo protest was organised by the Socialist Popular Alliance party.
Party
member Adel el-Meligy said: 'The party decided to hold a symbolic
protest to commemorate the anniversary of the January 25 revolution.'
He said police fired tear gas, birdshot and arrested the party's secretary general and five other young members.
The
18-day anti-Mubarak revolt had been fuelled by police abuses and the
corruption of the strongman's three decade rule, but the police have
since regained popularity amid widespread yearning for stability.
Activists,
including those who spearheaded the anti-Mubarak revolt, have accused
Sisi of reviving aspects of the former autocrat's rule.
Sisi
and his supporters deny such allegations, and point to his widespread
popularity and support for a firm hand in dealing with protests, which
are seen as damaging to an economic recovery.
The
anniversary will be marked just days after a court ordered the release
of Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, pending a corruption retrial
along with their father.
Another court had dismissed charges against Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of protesters.
Violence: A female supporter of
Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, attacks a lone pro-Morsi
supporter who had been protesting near Tahrir Square, Cairo, on Sunday
Egyptian policemen detain a supporter of
the People's Alliance Party during a demonstration in Cairo's Talaat
Harb square, near Tahrir square
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood
movement leave as security forces arrive to disperse the demonstration
in the Cairo district of Heliopolis
A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood movement flashes the four finger symbol known as 'Rabaa' during Saturday's demonstration
Supporters of the Popular Alliance party demonstrate in Cairo's Talaat Harb square on Saturday
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