http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre92805g-us-egypt-riot/
But the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants whom they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force, reviled across society for its brutality under deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Security sources said two people, a man in his 30s and a young boy, had died in Cairo from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets. A total of 65 people were injured.
Saturday's protests and violence underlined how Islamist President Mohamed Mursi is struggling - two years after Mubarak's overthrow - to maintain law and order at a time of economic and political crisis.
The presidency said in a statement that the protests had not been peaceful and condemned violence against property. The cabinet issued a similar statement and called on Egyptians to unite and respect court rulings.
On Thursday, Egypt's election committee scrapped a timetable under which voting for the lower house of parliament should have begun next month, following a court ruling that threw the entire polling process into confusion.
The stadium riot took place last year at the end of a match in Port Said between the local side Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly team. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by Al-Masry supporters. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.
DEATH BY HANGING
Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 Al-Masry fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed "the death penalty by hanging". He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.
In Cairo, local Al-Ahly fans vented their rage at the acquittals, setting fire to a police social club, the nearby offices of the Egyptian soccer federation and a branch of a fast food chain, sending smoke rising over the capital.
A military helicopter scooped up water from the nearby Nile and dropped it on the burning buildings.
"Ultra" fans, the section of Al-Ahly supporters responsible for much of the violence, said they expected retribution for those who had planned the Port Said "massacre".
"What is happening today in Cairo is the beginning of the anger. Wait for more if the remaining elements embroiled in this massacre are not revealed," the Ultras said in a statement.
In Port Said, where the army took over security in the city center from the police on Friday, about 2,000 residents who want the local fans spared execution blockaded ferries crossing the Suez Canal. Witnesses said youths also untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the waterway, hoping the boats would drift into the path of passing vessels.
Military police recovered five speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness said.
Authorities controlling the Canal, an artery for global trade and major income source for the Egyptian government, said through traffic had not been affected. "The canal ... is safe and open to all ships passing through it," Suez Canal Authority spokesman Tarek Hassanein told the MENA news agency.
The canal is a major employer in Port Said and, until now, protesters had declared it off-limits for the demonstrations, apart from one occasion when red balloons marked "SOS" were floated into the waterway.
In a separate security threat, the Interior Ministry ordered police in the Sinai peninsula to raise their state of alert after receiving intelligence that jihadists might attack them, MENA reported.
SINAI WORRIES
Officials have expressed growing worries about security in the desert region, which borders Israel and is home to a number of tourist resorts. Last August, Islamist militant gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen in an assault on a police station on the border with Israel, before seizing two military vehicles and attempting to storm the frontier.
Last Thursday, Bedouin gunmen briefly held the head of U.S. oil major ExxonMobil in Egypt and his wife. The Britons, who had been heading for a Sinai resort, were released unharmed.
General unrest is rife as Egypt's poor suffer badly from the economic crisis. Foreign currency reserves have slid to critically low levels and are now little more than a third of what they were in the last days of Mubarak.
The Egyptian pound has lost 14 percent against the dollar since the 2011 revolution and the budget deficit is soaring to unmanageable levels due to the huge cost of fuel and food subsidies. Egypt agreed a $4.8 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund in principle last November that would have almost certainly have required it to cut those subsidies and carry out economic reforms, but requested a delay due to street violence the following month.
Analysts say the chances of an IMF deal are slim until the electoral chaos is sorted out, but question how much longer the government can hold out without international funding.
Unrest has plagued Port Said since the death sentences were handed down to the Al-Masry supporters in January. At least eight people have died this week, including three policemen.
The Cairo court also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years on Saturday for their handling of the riot.
However, some fans in Cairo were happy with the confirmation of the death sentences. "This is a just verdict and has calmed us all down," Said Sayyid, 21, told Reuters.
and...
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/09/Egypt-tense-as-Port-Said-football-riot-verdict-looms-.html
http://rt.com/news/port-said-death-sentences-031/
( video at the link below ... )
and....
http://www.businessinsider.com/riots-after-egypt-confirms-death-sentences-2013-3
The verdict that had everyone in Egypt scared has come out and it's not good.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21722946
There was dismay in Port Said when the verdicts were announced
Smoke from the burning police club could be seen across Cairo
Egypt protesters torch buildings, target Suez Canal
By Yousri Mohamed
and Marwa AwadPosted 2013/03/09 at 3:03 pm EST
and Marwa AwadPosted 2013/03/09 at 3:03 pm EST
PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO, Mar. 9, 2013 (Reuters) — Egyptian protesters torched buildings in Cairo and tried unsuccessfully to disrupt international shipping on the Suez Canal, as a court ruling on a deadly soccer riot stoked rage in a country beset by worsening security.
Abd El Monaem "Kabo" (C, in cap), leader of Al-Ahly fans who are also known as "Ultras", shouts slogans in front of the Al-Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo March 9, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
But the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants whom they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force, reviled across society for its brutality under deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Security sources said two people, a man in his 30s and a young boy, had died in Cairo from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets. A total of 65 people were injured.
Saturday's protests and violence underlined how Islamist President Mohamed Mursi is struggling - two years after Mubarak's overthrow - to maintain law and order at a time of economic and political crisis.
The presidency said in a statement that the protests had not been peaceful and condemned violence against property. The cabinet issued a similar statement and called on Egyptians to unite and respect court rulings.
On Thursday, Egypt's election committee scrapped a timetable under which voting for the lower house of parliament should have begun next month, following a court ruling that threw the entire polling process into confusion.
The stadium riot took place last year at the end of a match in Port Said between the local side Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly team. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by Al-Masry supporters. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.
DEATH BY HANGING
Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 Al-Masry fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed "the death penalty by hanging". He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.
In Cairo, local Al-Ahly fans vented their rage at the acquittals, setting fire to a police social club, the nearby offices of the Egyptian soccer federation and a branch of a fast food chain, sending smoke rising over the capital.
A military helicopter scooped up water from the nearby Nile and dropped it on the burning buildings.
"Ultra" fans, the section of Al-Ahly supporters responsible for much of the violence, said they expected retribution for those who had planned the Port Said "massacre".
"What is happening today in Cairo is the beginning of the anger. Wait for more if the remaining elements embroiled in this massacre are not revealed," the Ultras said in a statement.
In Port Said, where the army took over security in the city center from the police on Friday, about 2,000 residents who want the local fans spared execution blockaded ferries crossing the Suez Canal. Witnesses said youths also untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the waterway, hoping the boats would drift into the path of passing vessels.
Military police recovered five speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness said.
Authorities controlling the Canal, an artery for global trade and major income source for the Egyptian government, said through traffic had not been affected. "The canal ... is safe and open to all ships passing through it," Suez Canal Authority spokesman Tarek Hassanein told the MENA news agency.
The canal is a major employer in Port Said and, until now, protesters had declared it off-limits for the demonstrations, apart from one occasion when red balloons marked "SOS" were floated into the waterway.
In a separate security threat, the Interior Ministry ordered police in the Sinai peninsula to raise their state of alert after receiving intelligence that jihadists might attack them, MENA reported.
SINAI WORRIES
Officials have expressed growing worries about security in the desert region, which borders Israel and is home to a number of tourist resorts. Last August, Islamist militant gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen in an assault on a police station on the border with Israel, before seizing two military vehicles and attempting to storm the frontier.
Last Thursday, Bedouin gunmen briefly held the head of U.S. oil major ExxonMobil in Egypt and his wife. The Britons, who had been heading for a Sinai resort, were released unharmed.
General unrest is rife as Egypt's poor suffer badly from the economic crisis. Foreign currency reserves have slid to critically low levels and are now little more than a third of what they were in the last days of Mubarak.
The Egyptian pound has lost 14 percent against the dollar since the 2011 revolution and the budget deficit is soaring to unmanageable levels due to the huge cost of fuel and food subsidies. Egypt agreed a $4.8 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund in principle last November that would have almost certainly have required it to cut those subsidies and carry out economic reforms, but requested a delay due to street violence the following month.
Analysts say the chances of an IMF deal are slim until the electoral chaos is sorted out, but question how much longer the government can hold out without international funding.
Unrest has plagued Port Said since the death sentences were handed down to the Al-Masry supporters in January. At least eight people have died this week, including three policemen.
The Cairo court also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years on Saturday for their handling of the riot.
However, some fans in Cairo were happy with the confirmation of the death sentences. "This is a just verdict and has calmed us all down," Said Sayyid, 21, told Reuters.
and...
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/09/Egypt-tense-as-Port-Said-football-riot-verdict-looms-.html
Chaos erupts in Egypt after Port Said riot death sentences upheld
AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES -
An Egyptian court confirmed on Saturday death sentences on 21 soccer fans for their role in a stadium riot in Port Said last year, a case which has provoked deadly clashes in the Suez Canal city.
The stadium deaths occurred in February 2012 at the end of a match between Cairo's Al-Ahly and Al-Masry, the local side, and have been a flashpoint for protests.
The stadium deaths occurred in February 2012 at the end of a match between Cairo's Al-Ahly and Al-Masry, the local side, and have been a flashpoint for protests.
The court also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years for their role in the riot in February 2012, in which more than 70 people died.
The verdict was met with anger from soccer fans in the country, as reports began circulating on protests in Port Said. The police officer's club in Cairo was torched by Egypt's "Ultras Ahlawy" soccer fan group, while protesters from the same group have also reportedly surrounded the interior ministry base.
The headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association were set ablaze on Saturday, minutes after the police officers' club.
Firefighters were working to put out the fire which spread through the building located in the same neighbourhood as the officers' club, an AFP reporter said.
The Egyptian interior ministry declared state of emergency in Sinai on Saturday due to intelligence that jihadists might attack police.
There were also reports that Egyptian protesters untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the Suez Canal. But these reports were denied by an Al Arabiya correspondent.
The verdict follows an earlier one in the same trial announced in January, where a Port Said court gave the death penalty to the 21 people in connection with the stadium riot.
The verdict follows an earlier one in the same trial announced in January, where a Port Said court gave the death penalty to the 21 people in connection with the stadium riot.
At the match in February last year, spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by supporters of al-Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.
Rioting after the death sentences were originally announced has underlined worsening security in Egyptian cities since the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
A protester in Port Said died of a bullet wound to the head on Friday which he sustained in clashes with police earlier in the week, a medical source said. Another protester died during the night after violence on Thursday.
Protesters holding flags chanted “With our blood we will redeem you, Port Said!” and “The people want to bring down the regime”, the signature chant of the demonstrators who ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule in 2011.
Nine of the suspects in the case are policemen. They include Essam Samak, the former head of the Port Said security directorate, as well as the former heads of the National Security Agency and the Central Security Forces in the governorate.
“The nine suspects were not included in the death penalty verdict of last January, which is still being examined by the grand mufti, a standard procedure with executions here,” a report by the Egypt Independent newspaper stated.
At least eight people have been killed in this week’s protests in the city, including three policemen.
The army formed a security cordon around the central security directorate building in Port Said and local government offices. The officers are there to protect the area and stop bloodshed but not to police the people, Major General Ahmed Wasfi said.
http://rt.com/news/port-said-death-sentences-031/
( video at the link below ... )
Football federation HQ stormed and torched after Port Said death verdict (PHOTOS)
Published time: March 09, 2013 08:22
Edited time: March 09, 2013 12:45
Edited time: March 09, 2013 12:45
Al-Ahly club supporters run away from smoke and flames rising from the police officers' club in Cairo on March 9, 2013 (AFP Photo / STR)
Download video (85.45 MB)
Cairo football fans set ablaze the headquarters of the nation’s football federation while their counterparts at Port Said are venting their anger over the confirmed death sentences of 21 of their friends.
Smoke rises from the police officers' club in Cairo on March 9, 2013 after several buildings in the complex were set on fire (AFP Photo / Mohamed El-Shahed)
An Egyptian court has confirmed Saturday the death sentences for 21 football fans involved in the fatal riots in Port Said in 2012.
It also sentenced five other suspects to life in jail and six others to 15-year terms. Among those receiving the relatively milder punishment is the city’s security chief Esam Samak.
The court also acquitted 25 other defendants in the case, which triggered mass riots in Port Said.
Supporters of the defendants said they plan a mass civil disobedience action and a strike in protest against the court’s decision. They began by staging a rally in front of the city administration. There is also talk about blockading the Suez Canal, which passes through Port Said.
RT’s Bel Trew reports from the scene that an angry crowed pelted her film crew’s car with stones, forcing them to stop taking footage.
The army cordoned off several official buildings in the city, including the central security directorate and local government’s office.
Meanwhile in Cairo Egyptian security forces have closes off all routes leading to Tahrir Square, the usual site of protest gatherings.
Egyptians gather at the Suez canal off the coast of Ismailia port city, east of Cairo, on March 9, 2013, to protest against the court ruling over the deadly football riot of 2012 (AFP Photo / STR)
There the rampaging crowds of hardcore fans attacked not only the federation HQ, but also a police officers’ social club. In addition to setting some of the buildings in the complex on fire they also smashed windows in others.
The disturbance in the capital was not at the harsh verdict, but rather that it was not harsh enough. Last year’s disaster in Port Said stems from the rivalry between the two cities’ football clubs.
The verdict comes following six days of violent clashes between radical football fans and police in Port Said. At least eight people have been killed over the week of rioting, including three officers. Police were withdrawn from the city, leaving the military to uphold order.
The condemned, who are now likely to be executed by hanging, were initially sentenced to death in January. Back then the ruling also resulted in rioting which killed 40 people, most of them in alleged attempt to storm a prison, where the defendants were held in custody.
The February 2012 rampage at Port Said’s stadium followed a match between the local team Al-Masry and visitors from Cairo's Al-Ahly club. At least 79 people were killed and more than a 1,000 injured, when local spectators attacked the players from the capital and their fans.
Egyptian al-Ahly football club supporters (Ultras) light flares as they celebrate in Cairo on March 9, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Khaled)
An Egyptian al-Ahly football club supporter (Ultras) lights a flare as they await the verdict of the court over a deadly football riot in Port Said that killed 74 people last year in Cairo on March 9, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Khaled)
Egyptian al-Ahly football club supporters (Ultras) wave their hands as they celebrate in Cairo on March 9, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Khaleh)
Egyptian al-Ahly football club supporters (Ultras) wave their hands as they celebrate in Cairo on March 9, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Khaled)
Al-Ahly fans, also known as "Ultras", celebrate and shout slogans in front of the Al-Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo March 9, 2013 (Reuters / Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Al-Ahly fans, also known as "Ultras", celebrate and shout slogans in front of the Al-Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo March 9, 2013 (Reuters / Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Al-Ahly fans, also known as "Ultras", shout slogans against the Interior Ministry, in front of Al-Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo March 9, 2013 (Reuters / Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
and....
http://www.businessinsider.com/riots-after-egypt-confirms-death-sentences-2013-3
CHAOS IN EGYPT After Court Confirms Death Sentence Of Soccer Rioters
An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences for 21 people involved in a deadly 2012 soccer riot. The court also sentenced 22 other people to lesser sentences.
And the reaction that everyone feared is happening right now.
Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club — aka "Ultras" — stormed Egypt's soccer federation headquarters and set it on fire, as seen in the above picture tweeted by Mohamed Soliman. They have surrounded the interior ministry.
Egyptian security forces have closed off all routes leading to Tahrir Square, according to AP.
Egypt's interior minister has declared a state of emergency due to intelligence that jihadists might attack police, according to state news via Reuters.
We're adding live updates to this developing situation.
There were huge riots in late January when the 21 defendants were originally sentenced to death, and more deadly riots leading up to today. Things have been getting so heated that police went on strike, claiming they were not equipped to deal with violent protesters.
The case is related to a February 1, 2012 soccer riot between fans of Cairo's al-Masry and the hometown al-Ahly club. More than 1000 were injured and at least 79 were killed. The next day two died in the city of Suez and more than 900 were injured in Cairo as hundreds of protesters attacked the security forces' headquarters in Suez and Cairo protestors gathered in Tahrir Square.
Meanwhile, Egypt continues to fall apart, as Islamist President Mohamed Morsi fails to reform the country, while his Muslim Brotherhood threatens to boycott elections. Violence is ever-present and seems likely to get worse as people express disappointment in the results of the 2011 Revolution.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21722946
Egypt court backs Port Said football riot death sentences
There was dismay in Port Said when the verdicts were announced
A court in Egypt has upheld 21 death sentences handed down to fans over deadly football riots in Port Said, amid continuing unrest.
Five of 52 other defendants were sentenced to life in prison for rioting while others received lesser sentences or were acquitted.
Locals accuse the Cairo court of leniency towards the police over the riots, in which 74 people died.
Rival protests are reported in both Port Said and the capital.
In Port Said, demonstrators tried to disrupt car ferry traffic across the Suez Canal while in Cairo, a police social club was set on fire.
Fans of the two rival football teams, Port Said's al-Masry and Cairo's al-Ahly, responded angrily to the verdicts for different reasons.
The army is patrolling Port Said instead of the police in an effort to ease tension.
Elsewhere, at least 10 of Egypt's 29 provinces were affected by an unprecedented strike by thousands of low-ranking police. Some units reportedly left their headquarters after sealing them with chains.
They were protesting against being forced by the government of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to confront protesters as well as a lack of protection from prosecution.
The chief of security forces was replaced on Friday to try to defuse anger among police.
'Politicised'
Confirming the capital punishment sentences, Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid specified "the death penalty by hanging".
In addition
- Port Said stadium security chief Essam Eddin Samak and nine other defendants were each sentenced to 15 years in jail
- Six received 10-year jail terms and two were sent to prison for five years
- A single defendant got a 12-month jail term and 28 of the accused, including seven policemen, walked free
Smoke from the burning police club could be seen across Cairo
The court's verdicts, broadcast live on TV, were greeted with suspicion and anger in Port Said.
Some demonstrators tried to block the canal by untying speedboats and setting them adrift while others sought to interrupt car ferry traffic.
El-Sayed Hafez, a retired resident of the city, told the al-Ahram newspaper: "The verdict is politicised... only two of the police officers were convicted."
He accused President Morsi of trying to placate fans of al-Ahly, who are known as the Ultras.
Most of the victims in last year's riots were supporters of the team.
Ultras initially cheered Saturday's verdicts but there was anger that they had not gone far enough.
As fans headed for a rally in their stadium, the main social club of the interior ministry was set on fire.
Tense week
The court sat in Cairo for security reasons.
After word spread that the defendants were being moved outside Port Said, the city saw six days of clashes between police and protesters around the security headquarters.
At least seven people - civilians and security officials - were killed.
The original death sentences imposed on the 21 defendants in January sparked a revolt in Port Said, where many residents saw the trial as unjust and politically biased.
There has been widespread antagonism towards the police since the mass protests which brought down former President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
Many people believe police in Port Said stood by in revenge for the fans' role in anti-Mubarak unrest. Police deny the accusation.
