After two successive days of demonstrations protesting President Mohammed Morsi’s constitutional declaration, the surrounding area of the Muslim Brotherhood premises at Saa Square in Damanhur, the capital of Beheira Governate in northern Egypt, turned into a battlefield where protesters and Muslim Brothers threw stones and Molotov cocktails on November 18th. Security forces tried to disperse the parties with tear gas after the Brotherhood announced, at four o’clock in the afternoon, the arrest of five thugs who tried to break into their premises.

After two successive days of demonstrations protesting President Mohammed Morsi’s constitutional declaration, the surrounding area of the Muslim Brotherhood premises at Saa Square in Damanhur, the capital of Beheira Governate in northern Egypt, turned into a battlefield where protesters and Muslim Brothers threw stones and Molotov cocktails on November 18th. Security forces tried to disperse the parties with tear gas after the Brotherhood announced, at four o’clock in the afternoon, the arrest of five thugs who tried to break into their premises.

The protesters however have a different version of the events. Those arrested by the Brotherhood, they claim, were not thugs but ordinary citizens who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The families of the detainees freed them and organized a demonstration of dozens who joined the demonstrators and pummeled the Brotherhood’s premises with stones. By nine o’clock that evening, the first victim fell. Islam Fathy Masoud, a 15 year-old Brother, died from his wounds. Dozens of others were injured after the peaceful protesters against the constitutional declaration turned avengers of those assaulted by the Brotherhood.

Brotherhood in mourning

The Brotherhood at Beheira announced a three-day-mourning period for the killed Masoud and declared in a statement that “Masoud was killed by a group of thugs who attacked the Brotherhood premises and tried to storm and burn it.”

The Brotherhood raised the image of the martyr on their premises on November 26th. Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood Supreme Guide, and the first lady paid condolences at the house of Masoud’s uncle who is also a Brother, which provoked protesters to denounce the Brotherhood’s failure to provide solace over the death of 50 children in Asyout’s train accident.

Brotherhood accused of torturing citizens

Four people filed an official complaint at Damanhur Police Station, accusing the Brotherhood of kidnapping and torturing them at their premises on the day of Masoud’s death, following the clashes of Shubra.

“That day, I went to Damanhur Police Station at seven p.m. to file a report against the Brotherhood for kidnapping Nagl Shaqeeq from Saa Square and torturing him inside their premises. I was surprised that three other citizens were filing similar complaints and my testimony was attached to theirs in the same report after they underwent medical examinations,” lawyer Hassan Shaheen said.

Mahmoud Ali Nasr Shaheen, a 17 year-old student at an Al-Azhar secondary school, said, “While passing through Saa Square on Sunday afternoon to have a private lesson, I was surprised by a number of people who dragged and assaulted me; they did not let me go until they made sure that I skipped my lesson. One of them went asking for me and my friend told him that I did not show up. He asked my friend to accompany him to pick me up.”

The 17 year-old Mustafa Karem Mahmoud, a secondary school student, said, “On that day, I was on my way to attend a lesson when I saw a group assaulting someone so I stopped to watch but I was surprised that one of them pointed at me screaming ‘There he is!’ And I could not escape. Five of them gathered around me and started beating me and they also stole my cell phone.”

Twenty year-old Mohamed Mansour Mohammed Morsi, member of Beheira Youth Parliament and Project Manager at Euro-Arab Center for Youth and Development, accused the Brotherhood of assaulting him while walking in Saa Square where he was tied up with others by a duct tape. He encouraged them to file police reports for severe torture.

Civil powers condemn the Brotherhood

As a result of such incidents, the Civil Forces Coalition in Beheira issued a statement condemning the Brotherhood and expressing its grief over the death of an innocent 15 year-old-boy. Consisting of 23 political parties and movements, the coalition held the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) politically and morally accountable for Damanhur events during which hundreds of people were injured.

According to the statement, “The Brotherhood has insulted and provoked citizens in an attempt to involve them in violence. They have also detained citizens within their premises, which aggravated the situation even more.”

The statement held the president and the Brotherhood responsible for the city events: “Our deepest concern is witnessing the Egyptian blood wasted over such dictatorial authoritarian decisions that ignited riots all over the country. Beheira political powers denounce the Brotherhood disregard of that and its adoption of a policy of force, arrogance and accusations against opposing political forces.”

The Brotherhood denies assaulting citizens

Engineer Osama Suleiman, the FJP Secretary in Beheira, denied the participation of the Brotherhood in assaulting Damanhur citizens, saying, “The Brothers are victims; they were protecting a building whose residents are women, children and sick people. They did not leave the place, nor did they attack anyone. Those who gathered at the Square on Sunday were not protestors, but thugs armed with stones and sticks, which caused injury to 160 Brothers and the martyrdom of Masoud.”

Suleiman also denied the involvement of the political powers in the killing of Masoud. “We know the political powers of Beheira and we protested side by side during the revolution and I do not believe that they participated in the killing of Masoud or even provoked violence,” he explained.

Such disorder in Damanhur city, according to him, has nothing to do with genuine revolutionaries, or with supporters or opponents of President Morsi’s decisions. Suleiman held the public prosecution and police forces responsible for the aggravated situation in Damanhur since they failed to conduct investigations to deter violence, in addition to the media charges, which he said sparked chaos in the streets.