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Egyptian group calls for halting anti-military activists' probes

Arab World Materials 13 January 2012 13:06 (UTC +04:00)
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, a non-governmental group, has called on the country's chief prosecutor to stop probing anti-military activists over their alleged involvement in deadly clashes last December, state television reported Friday.
Egyptian group calls for halting anti-military activists' probes

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, a non-governmental group, has called on the country's chief prosecutor to stop probing anti-military activists over their alleged involvement in deadly clashes last December, state television reported Friday.

"These revolutionaries stood up to despotism for freedom to prevail in Egypt and they should not be punished without substantial proofs," the group's head, Hafez Abu Saeda, was quoted as saying, DPA reported.

Egyptian prosecutors this week imposed a travel ban on leading opposition politician Ayman Nour after an inquiry accused him of inciting clashes between anti-government protesters and military forces near Cairo's Tahrir Square in mid-December.

Eighteen people were killed and some state buildings were damaged in the violence, one of the worst since a revolt forced former president Hosny Mubarak to step down in February.

Three other activists, including a prominent clergyman, are to be questioned on Sunday over the same incident.

Local and foreign human rights advocates have sharply criticized the military junta, which has been ruling Egypt since Mubarak's toppling, for using "excessive" violence against the protesters during the clashes.

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