Analyzing Video Evidence from Maspero: Bloody Confrontations following the Coptic Protest of October 9, 2011

Language: 
English
Sent On: 
سبت, 2011-10-29
Year: 
2011
Newsletter Number: 
18

 

Analyzing Video Evidence from Maspero: Bloody Confrontations following the Coptic Protest of October 9, 2011

 

AWR's Jayson Casper conducts comprehensive investigation into video evidence of violence that left 27 dead, 300 wounded

 

October 30, 2011

 

CAIRO (AWR) — October 9 witnessed riots in Cairo that led to the death of at least 27 people and the injury of over 300, mostly from Egypt’s Coptic Christian community. The conflict followed a peaceful march from the neighborhood of Shubra, with its high percentage of Coptic residents, to the Radio and TV Building in Maspero, which has become the location of choice for Coptic protests following the revolution.

 

Early on in the coverage state media announced Coptic protestors had assaulted the army assigned to guard the Maspero building with stones, Molotov cocktails, and live ammunition, killing at least three.

 

Yet when the dust had settled, nearly all the dead were Copts, with many witnesses laying blame upon the military for the entire event. Since then, speculation has posited the presence of a third party, which may have set the two sides upon each other. The investigation is still ongoing, undertaken by the military prosecution.

 

This report does not seek to answer fully the ultimate question of responsibility, yet it treats in detail one of the main sources of evidence: Video testimony. Uploaded to YouTube are accounts filmed by eyewitnesses, television channels, and State TV.

 

In all, this report has collected 37 videos, beginning with initial march from Shubra, the onset of violence, the ensuing chaos, media coverage, and ending with images of the dead bodies strewn across the floor. A link for each video is provided, and minute-by-minute commentary explains the scenes.

 

Simple analysis will accompany each section of videos, with a final assessment of video evidence provided at the end. Though presumably a transparent rendering of events, video is limited in establishing final judgment, if only because not all evidence is filmed. Eyewitness testimony and forensic reports must also be granted a hearing, which is beyond the scope of this report. Instead, the text places the events before its readers, allowing them their independent evaluation.

 

Yet it is hoped as well this effort will establish a common ground of analysis in what has become fiercely divided ground of controversy. Individual videos, in isolation, threaten to distort the overall picture, which otherwise could be exploited to serve a partisan narrative. It is not a question of seeking ‘balance’ or equal guilt; when 27 people die justice is demanded. Rather, it is an effort to place all video evidence possible before the public view. As tensions are already enflamed, the situation needs sober judgment; the truth will come out of its own accord. This report is intended as a contribution – for the sake of justice, and the sake of Egypt. These are difficult times; may the nation know peace.

 

Read more....

 

 

 

 

 

AWR Chief Editor Cornelis Hulsman:

 

 

The events at Maspero represent a terrible devolution of relations between Coptic Christians and the army, the de facto government of Egypt.

 

AWR remains committed to dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and for this it is important to know the truth about what happened at Maspero, one of the darkest nights in Muslim-Christian relations in modern history.

 

 

 

AWR Managing Operator Hani Labib:

 

 

Following the revolutions of January 25, expectations were high that the tactics of Egyptian media would be altered.

 

However, the media coverage of Maspero by Egyptian television proves that many still follow the same old ways and approach, which have long been criticized by many political movements.

 

 
 

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