Egyptian Embassy refuse petition of protest

Today we spoke out in solidarity with the people from Mahalla and the 49 detainees set to be put on trial on Saturday 9 August. The Egyptian Embassy on South St, London, did NOT, however, welcome our delegation of protesters.

Soon after assembling the police arrived and spoke to our organisers: they informed us that we would not be allowed to present the letter and petition directly to the Embassy en masse. This was to prevent us from 'intimidating' the embassy officials! A small group of people were permitted to approach the front door to deliver the letters but the door was answered not by embassy officials but by the same police officers. The embassy refused to officially receive the letter and we were informed by the police that we could post it through the letter box. Rob Owen, NEC NUS did so rather unceremoniously. A full report and better pictures will be posted here in the morning.


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Solidarity with the people of Mahalla-Join the delegation to the Egyptian Embassy in London

Join the delegation to the Egyptian Embassy in London

Thursday 7th August, 4.30pm

Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 26 South Street, London W1K 1DW

Solidarity with the people of Mahalla / Stop the show trial of Egyptian protestors

A date of 9 August has been set for the trial of 49 Egyptian citizens accused of various crimes and arrested during the uprising in Mahalla on 6 and 7 April. We will be gathering to hand in the letter of protest below, which has already been signed by over 500 people including leading activists from the PCS, CWU and UCU unions, and anti-war campaigners.

Return names to cairoconference@stopwar.org.uk

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 6 August for inclusion in the petition.

For more information about the trial see this solidarity website organised by campaigners in Egypt: http://abtalelmahalla.blogspot.com/ (English translation at bottom of page)


Solidarity with the people of Mahalla… Stop the show trial of Egyptian protestors

We the undersigned express our full solidarity with the 49 Egyptian citizens, whom the Mubarak regime has decided to prosecute in an Emergency High State Security Criminal Court, accused of involvement in the two day uprising in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla in April. On the 6th and 7th of April, Mubarak’s troops occupied, Ghazl el-Mahalla, the biggest textile mill in the Middle East, home to 27,000 workers, aborting a strike announced by the independent Textile Workers’ League in protest at spiraling food prices and to demand a raise in the minimum wage which has remained stagnant since 1984.

The troops used live ammunition, tear gas, water cannons and sticks against the peaceful protestors in the town who took to the streets after the crushing of the strike. At least three were killed, and hundreds were injured and detained. The 49 detainees face a list of trumped up charges, to which some have confessed under torture. They will be tried in an exceptional court, systematically denounced by human rights watchdogs for lacking the international standards for a “safe and just trial.”

We call on the Egyptian dictatorship to release them immediately.

Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, PCS
Jane Loftus, President, Postal Executive, CWU
Trevor Ngwane – Anti-Privatisation Forum, South Africa
Professor Alex Callinicos, King’s College, London
Eamonn McCann, journalist and anti-war campaigner, Ireland
Richard Boyd-Barrett, People not Profit Alliance, Ireland
Chris Nineham, Stop the War Coalition
James Eaden, National Executive, UCU
Liz Davies, Secretary, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Richard Harvey, Bureau Member, International Association of Democratic Lawyers
And more than 500 other signatories

http://www.egyptsolidarity.org/