Egypt charges 16 over football stadium deaths
Egypt’s prosecutor general has charged 16 people in connection with the death of 19 football fans in February.
Hisham Barakat said the supporters of Zamalek football team, also known as the Ultra White Knights, clashed with police as they were trying to push their way into the Cairo football stadium during the match between Zamalek and Enppi on February 8.
Police fired tear gas, which led to a stampede that resulted in the deaths of the 19 football fans.
At the time of the incident, the prosecution said 22 people died in the violence, but the Egyptian Health Ministry said the correct toll was 19.
Twelve defendants, out of the 16 people charged for the violence, are in police custody and are said to be members of the Ultras as well as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The prosecution has accused the Brotherhood of instigating the unrest at the stadium by paying money and giving explosives to the Ultras with the aim of creating an image of instability in the country.
The defendants are now facing charges which include thuggery and murder.
Hardcore soccer fans in Egypt often clash with police during football matches. More than 70 people died in a stadium riot in the canal city of Port Said in 2012.
The recent derby between Cairo teams Zamalek and Enppi had been one of the first Premier League games open to the public since supporters were banned from attending matches after the 2012 incident.
In the meantime, the army-backed government in Egypt has launched a fierce crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president who was ousted by the army on July 3, 2013. The crackdown has mainly targeted Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
Mohamed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and 13 other members of the group were handed death sentences by an Egyptian court on March 16.
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