Egyptian Military Kills 14 Protesters, Attacks Journalists In Brutal Tahrir Crackdown

Egyptian Military Kills 14 Protesters, Attacks Journalists In Brutal Tahrir Crackdown from Democracy Now! on Vimeo.

DemocracyNow.org - A new wave of violence in Cairo’s Tahrir Square began Friday when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the parliament building was reportedly detained and beaten by troops. Up to 14 people have now been killed and hundreds injured over the last three days of clashes. A video uploaded Sunday on YouTube has circulated widely and provoked outrage at the extent of police brutality. It shows a young woman being dragged and beaten by military police. The top half of her body is bare, her blue bra exposed. Her abaya, or robe, has been ripped off and surrounds her upper body, showing that she was wearing a hijab. "When this [woman was beaten and disrobed] happened, there was probably much more video evidence of people being brutally beaten down, but they're not available because the Army -- right after that raid -- entered the offices of most media outlets surrounding the square and confiscated equipment,” says Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, reporting from Cairo. Kouddous says the military confiscated two of his cameras, and he also saw them take cameras from Al Jazeera reporters. “This was a clampdown on information, on trying to prevent these kinds of pictures from emerging." The police attacks have overshadowed the first parliamentary elections since former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.

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