Egypt protests continue .. Arrest 220 demonstrators and postponement of political trials

Egyptian activists have confirmed the arrest of more than 200 demonstrators in two days. Demonstrations calling for the departure of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi continue in several Egyptian and Western cities, while the Egyptian authorities decided to postpone the trials of a political nature this week.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Seif Eddin said that the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (civil society) documented the arrest of about 220 demonstrators, including 34 women, during the past two days on the back of their participation in the demonstrations.

According to UNHCR, 160 demonstrators were arrested in Cairo alone and 11 in both Alexandria and Gharbia.

In a statement, UNHCR called on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the detainees and held the Egyptian government fully responsible for their physical integrity and human dignity, stressing that peaceful protest and demonstration is a legitimate right guaranteed by international law and the Egyptian constitution, and the state must respect this right.

Since Friday evening, demonstrations calling for the departure of Sisi continue, most notably a mass demonstration in the city of Suez that turned into clashes last night when police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse the protesters, and activists said that many wounded were killed.

The demonstrations included the cities of Mahalla al-Kubra in Gharbia governorate, Nag Hammadi in Qena governorate, and Port Said, where participants chanted slogans against the Sisi regime and demanded a comprehensive change, and the police responded with a campaign of arrests.

Western cities
In the same context, dozens of Egyptians demonstrated in front of Sisi residence in New York City, where he participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, and others in Washington staged a protest in front of the White House to demand US President Donald Trump to stop his support for Sisi.

A number of members of the Egyptian community in Toronto, Canada, a pause in which they condemned the policies of Sisi, and the city of Sydney, Australia, a pause in support of the protests in Egypt.

A number of members of the Egyptian community demonstrated in front of their country's embassy in London, shouting slogans calling for Sisi not to return from his foreign trip, and some of them made speeches saying that the Egyptians are demanding the overthrow of the regime because they want freedom, justice and a decent life.

Adjournment of trials
On the other hand, the correspondent of Al Jazeera Net quoted a human rights source that the Egyptian authorities decided to postpone the hearings of cases of a political nature before the courts this week due to the escalating events.

The trial of 304 detainees in the case known as the "assassination attempt on the assistant attorney general" was postponed until September 29, due to the inability of the defendants to be present from their custody.

Yesterday, the Giza Criminal Court decided to extend the sentence of the defendants in the case of the "Three Pyramids Hotel" until September 28, and the Cairo Criminal Court postponed the trial of 12 detainees in the case of "the state of Sinai" until October 12.

One of the most prominent cases scheduled to be heard this week is the "Arab Section", in which the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 46 other Brotherhood leaders in Port Said are on trial.