Cairo’s Administrative Court ruled Saturday in favor of residents of an island in Giza who had been threatened with eviction from their homes.
The court verdict quashes a prime ministerial decree which would have removed the roughly 5,000 inhabitants from their homes on El-Qorsaya island.
Many of the roughly 1,000 fishermen and 4,000 farmers who constitute El-Qorsaya’s population have lived on the island for generations since the island was first inhabited in the 19th century.
Last year, bulldozers protected by army troops arrived on El-Qorsaya — which lies in a prime location in Cairo — amid rumors that it would be converted into a tourist complex.
The islanders responded by launching a media campaign against the plans, residents saying that as farmers and fishermen they would be unable to sustain their way of life away from the island.
The court case was launched in 2007.

If an officer beats a detainee to death, he’s also given three years in prison.

UPDATE: A report from Tadamon.

UPDATE: The clashes broke out after a protest by 8,000 of the Burullus residents denouncing the shortages in flour and bread in the town. Mubarak’s pigs (the second largest recipients of US foreign aid after Israel) fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition on the demonstrators resulting in critical injuries, but no deaths contrary to the initial reports.

Scores were arrested, including a pregnant woman, by State Security and the ordinary police, of which 87 are underwent interrogation by the Prosecutor in Kafr el-Sheikh.

I also received some photos of the events from a friend. Here’s one of a local State Security Police officer:

More pix of the riots, taken with a mobile phone camera:

It’s worth mentioning that Burullus, a fishermen‘s community, has been a hot spot for more than a year now, with riots and protests against the lack of drinking water and against police brutality.

Also the Tadamon blog posted a solidarity call from the light bulbs manufacturing factory workers, owned by the Lebanese Egyptian tycoon Rami Lakkah, who are fighting for social insurance, and El-Badeel ran a report on escalating militancy among the northern fishermen, who are organizing a national conference next month.