Associated Press
Friday, May 12, 2006

CAIRO, May 11 -- Thousands of Egyptian riot police beat pro-democracy activists Thursday, chasing and dragging them through the streets to break up a demonstration in support of judges who blew the whistle on alleged election fraud.

The violence appeared to signal a tough new stance by the Egyptian government toward protests demanding reform and expressing discontent with President Hosni Mubarak for failing to deliver on promises of democratic change.

The State Department said it was "deeply concerned" about the police assault on protesters and would raise the matter with the government. "We urge the Egyptian government to permit peaceful demonstrations on behalf of reform and civil liberties," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters at the State Department's daily briefing.

The protests were called to support two judges from Egypt's highest court who have become heroes of the democracy movement after they went public with allegations of fraud during parliamentary elections last year.

The judges, Hisham el-Bastiwisy and Mahmoud Mekki, have been ordered before a court panel for possible disciplinary action. But they boycotted their hearing Thursday to protest the treatment of the demonstrators, and the session was postponed until May 18.

"This is not a trial, this is a scandal," Bastiwisy said. "All those troops are not for our trial, it's because they are afraid of the nation. They are beating people up like mad in the streets."

Hundreds of protesters who turned out for the scheduled hearing were met by a massive security force, with lines of riot police wielding long sticks and cordoning off streets around the courthouse in downtown Cairo. Uniformed police chased protesters through the streets, grabbing them and beating some before dragging them toward waiting trucks or into nearby buildings.

Police pulled an elderly woman by her arms in an attempt to drag her into a police van. When she resisted, the policemen tore the front of her robe, throwing her sprawled on the pavement with her underclothes exposed, said a witness, activist Bothaina Kamel.