Egyptian regime offered to pay blood money for victims of security forces

The ex-Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament, Sa’d Al-Katatni, has claimed that the Al-Sisi government offered to pay blood money for the protesters who were killed in Rabaa Al-Adawiyya Square in 2013, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Wednesday. He made the claim when he attended Cairo Criminal Court where he, along with 130 other defendants, is accused of storming prisons during the 25 January Revolution in 2011.

“Lawyer Ayman Badawi came to me in Tura Prison and asked me to conduct discussions to reach a solution for the ongoing political deadlock in the country,” he said. The government was ready to pay blood money, he was told. It was stressed to him that the victims’ families would never get compensation through the courts.

He rejected the offer. “I am not entitled to accept the restitution,” he responded. Al-Katatni also told Badawi that if anything is to happen, it must be official and written down in order to be used as evidence of the discussions.

At the same time, Al-Katatni reaffirmed that he does not recognise the coup against the legitimate president and its consequences. “This is the reason behind the government’s dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party,” he insisted. “It was not dissolved because it was founded on a religious basis.”