Sunday, January 27, 2013

Egypt unrest: Morsi declares emergency in three cities

 As of now, Egypt is now in curfew mode. By decree of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, there will now be a daily curfew from 21:00 to 06:00 (that's 9:00 PM to those that don't know military time). The curfew is due to ever increasing unrest in Egypt, the most recent being the death of 30 civilians after a court ruling caused a riot. Indeed, much of the unrest is stemming from Morsi himself; many people blame him and his administration for a variety of things (deepening economic crisis, being autocratic, driving through a new constitution that does not protect adequately freedom of expression or religion, etc.).

The state of emergency applies to the three cities along the Suez Canal, and their surrounding regions (mainly Port Said, Suez and Ismalia). In a message to the people, Morsi stated that while he is against any emergency measures he will if I must stop bloodshed and protect the people. Morsi was quoted as saying "If I must I will do much more for the sake of Egypt. This is my duty and I will not hesitate." Quite frankly given the facts of this case, if one was to pick sides, Morsi would be in the right for this.

The court case that caused the most recent deaths was over an event that occurred roughly a year ago. In Port Said, a football game had taken place where hometown fans attacked the visiting teams supporters. In the end, 74 people had died. 21 of the people that had caused the violence were the ones who were on trial and who's sentenced sparked the riot. Say what you will about Morsi, but there's more blood on the hands of his people then himself at this time. They can now add the 30 from the riot, and 3 more from the mass funeral following Sunday.

One can only hope all of this passes peacefully.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21224643

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