Egyptians in Port Said continue protests for 4th day

Egyptians have rallied in the city of Port Said for the fourth consecutive day to demand justice for those killed in clashes with police forces.

On Wednesday, protesters rallied in the port city where they closed down government offices, factories, schools and banks.

“This … protest will not end until our demands are met…We want retribution starting from the President to the interior minister to the snipers who killed those people,” said a protester during the rally.

The protesters want justice for at least 40 people who have lost their lives in clashes with Egyptian police last month. Violence erupted in several Suez Canal cities after a judge sentenced 21 local people to death for their roles in a football riot in Port Said in which 74 people were killed and 1,000 others injured in February 2012.

According to reports protesters chanted “With our lives, with our blood, we will sacrifice ourselves to you martyrs: Either we avenge you or we die like you.”

Earlier this week, a political activist in the Mediterranean port city Ahmad Mutwalli issued a statement saying that “The disobedience will … continue if the protesters’ calls for the death sentence for the killers of martyrs are not granted.”

The unrest in January, forced the Egyptian government to declare emergency law.

The Egyptians launched the revolution against the pro-Israeli regime on January 25, 2011, which eventually brought an end to Mubarak’s 30-year-long dictatorship on February 11, 2011.