Egypt court verdict sparks riots
March 9, 2013![[38024942] Clashes in Cairo following Port Said trial verdict epa03616301 Egyptian man tries to extinguish a fire in headquarters of the Egyptian soccer association in Cairo, Egypt, 09 March 2013. Media report state football fans on 09 March torched the Cairo-based headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), as they protested judicial rulings on the country's worst football disaster. The angry protesters also blocked roads leading to the EFA offices. A nearby police club was also set on fire, reported state media. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++](/dw.static/image/16661113_1004.webp "[38024942] Clashes in Cairo following Port Said trial verdict epa03616301 Egyptian man tries to extinguish a fire in headquarters of the Egyptian soccer association in Cairo, Egypt, 09 March 2013. Media report state football fans on 09 March torched the Cairo-based headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), as they protested judicial rulings on the country's worst football disaster. The angry protesters also blocked roads leading to the EFA offices. A nearby police club was also set on fire, reported state media. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++")
Violent rioting erupted in Eqypt's capital, Cairo, on Saturday after a court acquitted the policemen charged over a deadly soccer riot in Port Said in 2012.
At least two people were killed when fighting broke out between local police and protestors in Qassr al-Nil near Cairo's Tahrir Square, health authorities told news agency dpa. At least 46 people were injured in the clashes.
Security sources said a man in his 30s and a young boy died from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets.
Angry soccer fans also stormed and set alight a club affiliated with the police force, as well as the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association.
Earlier, several hundred protestors prevented ferries from shuttling residents across the Suez Canal, in Port Said.
They set hundreds of tires alight, locals told reporters, and erected a large banner at the port's entrance demanding "independance for Port Said."
Egypt's presidential spokesman, Ihab Fahmi, said protests against the court ruling were not part of the peaceful expression of opinion.
“Egypt is ruled by law and any acts of rioting and subversion will be investigated and anyone proven to be involved in them will be liable to the law,” he said.
Saturday's court ruling confirmed the death sentences on 21 people for their role in the 2012 soccer riot in Port Said which killed 74 people. They handed down five life sentences, with 19 of the accused receiving lesser jail terms. Twenty-eight people were exonerated.
jlw/jm (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpad)