Around 80 to 90 protesters from the Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (the ECCD) stood Saturday in the frigid weather and assembled at Yonge – Dundas Square to call for awareness of ongoing injustices they claim are being carried out by military forces in Egypt.
Jan. 25 was the third anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution.
Karim Elemam is a Kuwait-born Canadian citizen with strong ties to Egypt. He helped to organize this protest.
“We are asking (the military) to stop the killing, restore democracy and just bring things back as they were,” Elemam said.
“No one’s been judged under the law now. They are even making protests illegal there,” he said. “There are too many injustices and we just want to raise the awareness of that.”
Some supporters were holding posters with the portrait of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Some waved flags that have the R4BIA sign, which is now being commonly used by the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters in Egypt. Many women were distributing small cards that have the portraits and information about the victims killed by the Egyptian military.
The protesters were chanting, asking the Egyptian government to stop killing unarmed citizens and to end the military rule.
The intersection of Yonge and Dundas was blocked for a few minutes when the demonstration started. Two Toronto police cars were deployed to maintain order.
The rally lasted about half an hour in front of the U.S. Consulate. The protestors consider the U.S. government as one of the biggest supporters of the coup.
“They funded the military base or provided aid to the military,” Elemam said. “I am not saying they are responsible, but they are participating in this mess.
The Egyptian military launched a coup on July 3, 2013, dismissed president Mohamed Morsi and started jailing Morsi’s supporters.
