Post-Maspero Justice: Five Years Later

On October 9, 2011, thousands of peaceful demonstrators marched toward the Maspero building, home of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, the state broadcasters to protest the destruction and burning of St. George Church in Edfu, Aswan. As the demonstration proceeded, the protestors were attacked first by residents who threw rocks at them, with gunfire heard sporadically along the route. As marchers approached the Maspero building, security personnel and members of the Armed Forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at the protesters and drove armored personnel carriers into the crowds. After television anchor Rasha Magdy called on “all honorable citizens” to take to the streets to defend the military from who she falsely described as “Coptic attackers,” bands of civilians, some armed, joined the military against the protesters. Twenty-eight protesters were killed that night and over 200 were injured.