Revolutionär für Freunde und Mädchen

Von Christian Helten

Abdo ist Fußball-Ultra und Revolutionär auf dem Tahrirplatz in Kairo. Jakob Gross hat ihn für einen Dokumentarfilm begleitet. Der zeigt, dass es bei einer Revolution oft gar nicht nur um Politik geht.

jetzt.de: Jakob, wenn du in einem Satz erklären müsstest, wer Abdo ist – was würdest du sagen?
Jakob Gross: Ein Mensch, der erwachsen wird und auf der Suche nach sich selbst ist – und der diese Lebensphase mitten in einer Revolution durchlebt.

Dein Film ist aber kein klassisches Porträt eines jungen Rebellen.
Stimmt. Ein klassisches Porträt würde Abdo als revolutionären Helden mit klaren politischen Absichten darstellen. Ich sehe in Abdo aber vielmehr einen jungen Typen, der plötzlich in gesellschaftliche Umbrüche reingeworfen wird. Ich will damit nicht sagen, dass Abdo kein Revolutionär ist. Die Frage ist ja: Kann man sich da überhaupt richtig entscheiden oder ist man einfach eh mittendrin?

Damit stellst du ja letzten Endes auch die Frage, was das überhaupt heißt: ein Revolutionär sein.
Ja, denn dieser Begriff ist natürlich total aufgeladen. Revolutionäre werden oft als altruistisch handelnde Menschen dargestellt, die gegen das böse System kämpfen. Dabei sind die Motivationen auf die Straße zu gehen um einiges komplexer. Abdo zeigt sich zum Beispiel auch als den harten Kämpfer an der Front, um Mädchen und Freunde zu beeindrucken.

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Judge who faced assassination attempt was due to acquit Ultras

Von Emir Nader

Zamalek club chief was set to drop charges against 21 Ultras White Knights he accused of making an attempt on his life

The judge who survived an assassination attempt Sunday morning was due to acquit 21 members of hardcore fan group Ultras White Knights, who themselves are accused of attempting to assassinate Zamalek club chairman Mortada Mansour last year.

Judge Moataz Khafaga, head of the Giza Criminal Court, was set to rule on the case of the 21 fans Sunday, before the case was called off following a car bomb exploding outside his Helwan house. However, the attack is seen as related to Khafaga’s work in cases that accuse Muslim Brotherhood members of terrorist activities.

Mortada Mansour, the outspoken lawyer and chairman of Zamalek sporting club, was reportedly intending to drop the case in which he alleges that his club’s Ultras fan group made an attempt on his life in August of last year. He claimed that members of the Ultras attempted to shoot him as he was leaving the club in the early hours of the morning. In what followed, numerous members of the UWK had their houses raided and were arrested.

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Feud between Mortada Mansour and UWK continues

Von Adham Youssef

21 Zamalek fans are charged with attempting to assassinate Mansour

The Criminal Court postponed to 10 May the trial of 21 Ultras White Knights (UWK) members on charges of the attempted murder of the Al-Zamalek club’s president Mortada Mansour, in a Sunday session.

During the session, the defendants came to the court wearing the Al-Zamalek team shirts. The following sessions will be dedicated to hearing the witnesses’ testimonies.

Mansour claims that as he was leaving his office in the early hours of the morning, the fans attempted to shoot him, hitting two of his companions and injuring him.

In addition, he accuses the group of acts of vandalism, and burning the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association and the Al-Ahly and Al-Zamalek headquarters in his lawsuit.

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Ultras Green Eagles protest in support of Port Said massacre defendants

The Green Eagles Ultras, a group of Al-Masry Club football fans, staged a protest Friday evening to support defendants in the Port Said Stadium massacre.

The march kicked off at Mariam Mosque in the al-Monakh neighborhood where hundreds of Ultras members, families of the defendants and Wafd Party leaders participated.

The protesters raised images outside Port Said Prison of defendants sentenced to death, as well as banners that demanded the prosecution of former Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim over the killing of 54 protesters.

They chanted against presenter Ahmed Moussa and Zamalek Club chief and lawyer Mortada Mansour for receiving LE2 million to defend the accused without attending the sessions.

The Green Eagles Ultras announced in a statement on its Facebook page it would continue to protest until the final verdict on May 30.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Quelle: Egypt Independent, 25. April 2015

Ahlawy Ultras storm Prince Abdullah Hall to cheer their team against Sporting

Ultras Ahlawy<br />

Large numbers of the Ahlawy Ultras have broken into the Prince Abdullah Hall in the Al-Ahly Club on Thursday, to cheer their handball team playing against the Sporting Club. Security failed to prevent the crowd from entering, due to their large numbers. Previously, due to security concerns, the club had decided to prevent the group from attending football and handball matches.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Quelle: Egypt Independent, 24. April 2015

11 sentenced to death in retrial over Egypt football riot

Von Ramadan Al Sherbini

Implementation of verdict relating to death of 74 fans in 2012 in clashes at a stadium subject to Grand Mufti’s approval

Egyptian fans clash with riot police following an Al Ahly club soccer match against Al Masry club at a stadium Image Credit: AP

Cairo: An Egyptian court on Sunday handed down death sentences to 11 people charged with involvement in Egypt’s worst football tragedy more than three years ago.

The Criminal Court, holding its proceedings at the Police Academy on the outskirts of Cairo, referred the sentences to the country’s chief Islamic authority, the Grand Mufti, to approve or reject them — a routine legal procedure related to death sentences.

The final verdict has been set for May 30.

The court said it will also sentence 62 other defendants in the same case on May 30.

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Court adjourns Air Defence Stadium trial to 18 May

Von Mahmoud Mostafa

16 fans and ‘Muslim Brotherhood members’ accused of rioting leading to deaths of 22 fans

The North Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the Air Defence Stadium trial to the 18 May session.

The case involves 16 defendants who stand accused of rioting in the events which saw the deaths of 22 football fans of Zamalek SC.

The Saturday session was first in the trial after the General Prosecution referred 16 defendants from ‘Ultras fans and Muslim Brotherhood members’ to trial. The court adjourned the case to review case exhibits and answer the defence’s demands.

The incident took place before the match as fans were attempting to enter the Air Defence Stadium, before the Zamalek SC and ENPPI premier league football match. The deaths occurred as security forces violently dispersed crowding fans at the entrance to the stadium.

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Egypt moves closer to labelling soccer fans as terrorists

Von James M. Dorsey

Egypt has moved closer to banning as terrorist organizations militant soccer groups that form the backbone of opposition to autocratic rule with the arrest and pre-trial detention of five alleged members of the Ultras White Knights (UWK), the highly-politicized, street battle-hardened support group of storied Cairo club Al Zamalek SC.

The five men – Sayed Ali, Seif Kamel, Mahmoud El-Domiati, Abdallah Ghoneim and Anas Tawfik – were arrested last week on charges of joining a “terrorist entity” and attempting to topple the regime of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

The fans were first questioned by state security prosecutors on Monday and are scheduled to appear again before the prosecution on April 24, according to Daily News Egypt. The paper quoted Revolutionary Socialists, a left-wing group, as saying the five men were being held separately in different prisons.

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Police disperse Ultras Nahdawy protest

Von Adham Youssef

Group organised sudden protest in Abdel Moneim Riad Square Sunday night

Police forces dispersed Sunday night a minor protest by the anti-government group Ultras Nahdawy, according to eyewitnesses.

Members of the group gathered near Abdel Moneim Riad Square, in the vicinity of Tahrir Square, and staged a sudden protest, setting off fireworks and raising anti-government banners.

Police forces stationed near the Egyptian Museum chased off the protesters into side streets, ending the demonstration. No arrests or injuries were reported.

The Interior Ministry has yet to release a statement detailing the incident, and has so far not commented on it.

Protests taking place without an official permit from the police are currently not allowed in Egypt, and riot police authorised to disperse it.

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been actively participating in protests, raised a banner with the words “We Will Continue”.

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Militant soccer fans: Egypt’s Hans Brink plugs the dam against radicalization

Von James M. Dorsey

Said Moshagheb, a mesmerizingly charismatic, under-educated and unemployed leader of a prominent group of militant, well-organized, and street battle-hardened soccer fans, staged a coup five years ago against the founders and original leaders of the Ultras White Knights (UWK), the storied support group of Zamalek SC, one of Egypt’s most celebrated clubs.

The impact of the takeover is today increasingly evident on the embattled campuses of Egyptian universities and in poorer neighbourhoods of Egyptian cities, the focal points of protest against the military coup in 2013 that toppled Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first and only democratically elected president, and brought general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power.

It is also obvious in the UWK’s most recent history and that of Mr. Moshagheb personally, both of which are reflections of a generation that has progressively lost hope and is potentially prone to radicalisation. If anything, their histories serve as warning signs that frustration sparked by the success of the military and the security forces in rolling back the achievements of the 2011 popular revolt that forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign after 30 years in office coupled with Mr. Al-Sisi’s even more repressive policies is fuelling radicalisation rather than returning Egypt to stability and equitable economic growth.

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