Mohamed Elziny’s Testimony

شهادة محمد الزيني باللغة العربية

I was passing by Ramsis – by chance – on my way to Ahmed Helmi’s bus stop. It was exactly 6 o’clock, and I found people running starting from around Al-Azbakeyya Police station till the Ahmed Helmi tunnel. A lot of people had knives and swords with them, stopping others who were trying to get into the tunnel, and it was obvious that they were Sabteya residents.

Anyway, I arrived at Sabteya after the demonstration that had come from Shubra had already passed and was on its way to Maspero. I found a kiosk on fire, and a wrecked truck. I asked different people about what happened. I asked an old man, but it was clear from the way he talked that he hated Christians. Anyway, he told me that Christians are the ones who started this fire and broke the truck. He also said that the Sabteya people beat them up, because they were chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis, and that he also saw that they had a shotgun and that they were big in number, around 30 to 40 thousands… I asked a Christian about what happened, he said that the Sabteya people were the ones who blocked their way and beat them up, and that he saw someone throwing Molotov over the kiosk from a car and then drove off.

I left after that. I was at Maspero at about 6:30. There was blood everywhere, and I was late so I didn’t see the armored vehicle running over demonstrators, but I saw 4 dead bodies wrapped in clothes, and I saw someone’s brain right in front of me on the ground. Most of the demonstrators when they first arrived were Christians, but more Muslims started joining in no time, and I saw Sheikhs in the demonstration. I was at Hilton Ramsis, and there were people at Maspero. There was beating over there (at Maspero). There were lots of teargas where I was, so much of it that they used to fall over the October bridge and between the cars… and I could hear live ammunition being shot… and I swear to God I saw bullet casings with red tapes on them, and when I asked, I was told that these belong to the Military Police. I also saw with my own eyes people, dressed as civilians, with the CSF and the army, protecting them from the rocks we were throwing at them. The armored vehicle ran after us, but it didn’t hit anyone while I was there. I really did not see any bullets or guns with the demonstrators like others claimed or talked about. I left at around 9, and those weren’t dead, were injured.

I stated everything I saw, without any exaggeration, I swear.

Mohamed Saeed