CAIRO: When a doctor at a Cairo hospital told a cop that his cut didn’t require stitches, the response was startling and brutal. Police beat up the doctor and a colleague and dragged them off into custody.
The incident spiraled into protests by thousands of doctors in Cairo on Friday, a rare show of public outrage over police abuses that rights group say have escalated in the country. Such public demonstrations have become unusual in Egypt.
While protesters gathered outside the building of the doctors’ union, known as the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, inside members called for the resignation of the health minister — in part because of his lack of support — and threatened to go on partial strike.
The standoff between policemen and doctors suggested that Egypt’s powerful security forces may have overstepped their limits by clashing with one of the country’s most respected professions.
On Friday, the Arabic hashtag “support the doctors’ syndicate” was trending on Twitter in Egypt. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a prominent local rights group, said the doctors’ assault was “a reflection of the level of police abuse of authority these days.”
The incident spiraled into protests by thousands of doctors in Cairo on Friday, a rare show of public outrage over police abuses that rights group say have escalated in the country. Such public demonstrations have become unusual in Egypt.
While protesters gathered outside the building of the doctors’ union, known as the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, inside members called for the resignation of the health minister — in part because of his lack of support — and threatened to go on partial strike.
The standoff between policemen and doctors suggested that Egypt’s powerful security forces may have overstepped their limits by clashing with one of the country’s most respected professions.
On Friday, the Arabic hashtag “support the doctors’ syndicate” was trending on Twitter in Egypt. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a prominent local rights group, said the doctors’ assault was “a reflection of the level of police abuse of authority these days.”
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