An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police during clashes outside the Egyptian presidential palace on Friday, February 1, in Cairo. Egypt has been embroiled in violence since last week, the two-year anniversary of an uprising that led to the ouster of then-President Hosni Mubarak.
(CNN) -- An Egyptian judge sentenced 21 people to death Saturday for their roles in a football game riot last year, a ruling that sparked deadly clashes between security forces and relatives of the convicted.
The Port Said football incident left 74 people dead and 1,000 others injured.
Soon after the sentencing in the nation's worst stadium disaster, protests erupted outside the prison in the northeastern port city. Clashes outside Port Said prison left at least 20 civilians and two soldiers dead and dozens injured, a hospital official told state TV.
The armed forces sent troops to secure public buildings and restore calm in Port Said, according to state media.
The fatal clashes started after some relatives attempted to storm the building to free their loved ones, Brig. Gen. Osama Ismail, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told state-run Nile TV.
Crowds outside the prison fired guns and hurled rocks at the security forces, who in turn used tear gas to disperse the crowd, Ismail said.
Egypt's football fans demand justice
"There is a state of anger on the streets of Port Said, and the security forces are on high alert," Nile TV reported.
The sentences were handed down in a packed courtroom in Cairo as victims' relatives and those convicted wept.
"I thank God that justice is back in the courts of Egypt. Many mothers will sleep sound tonight knowing justice is served," the mother of Mustafa Issam, who was killed in the riots, told Nile TV by phone.
The sentences must be reviewed by Egypt's highest religious authority, who will return his opinion to the court March 9. On that day, an additional 54 defendants in the case will also be sentenced, the judge said.
Dubbed the "massacre at Port Said" by Egyptian media, the riot broke out on February 1, 2012, after Port Said-based Al-Masry defeated Cairo's Al-Ahly, 3-1.
When the clashes began, about 22,000 people were inside the stadium, which can hold up to 25,000 people. About 2,000 Al-Ahly fans were at the game, authorities said.
Fans from both sides bashed each other with rocks and chairs. Many of those who died fell from the bleachers during the melee inside the stadium, while others suffocated.
It was unclear whether intense sports rivalries or political strife sparked the riots, though witnesses said tension was building through the game with Port Said fans throwing bottles and rocks at players on the Cairo team.
During Egypt's revolution that ended with the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, football fans became a powerful force for political change, according to CNN contributor James Montague, who wrote the book "When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone."
Even so, the riots occurred at a time when Egypt was struggling with a security vacuum following Mubarak's ouster.
In the hours after the riot in Port Said, protesters in Cairo chanted, "Down with military rule." At the time, the secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood party blamed Egypt's military for the deaths.
Egypt's interior ministry blamed fans for provoking police. Witnesses said police did little to try to quell the clashes.
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A protester holds a smoke flare outside the presidential palace on February 1.
The entrance of Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo is in flames February 1, as protesters battle security forces.
A protester faces off against riot police during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, January 30.
A police officer fires a tear gas canister during clashes with protesters near Tahrir Square on January 30.
Police in plainclothes detain a youth suspected of being a member of the Black Bloc opposition group during a demonstration on January 30 in Cairo.
A protester sprays water into the eyes of a man after his exposure to tear gas during clashes with police near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday, January 29.
The lobby of Cairo's Semiramis InterContinental Hotel is full of debris on January 29 after protesters stormed the entrance.
An Egyptian man takes part in a rally in Port Said on January 29. Protests in Port Said and nearby cities along the Suez Canal are symbolic because that region was among the first where the Mubarak regime lost control during the 2011 unrest, analysts say.
Mourners carry the coffins of six people killed in clashes after the soccer riot ruling in Port Said on Monday, January 28. Rage exploded when a judge sentenced to death 21 residents of Port Said for roles in a deadly 2012 soccer riot.
Egyptians walk past destroyed cars in Port Said on January 28 following the funeral of those killed in clashes.
A riot police officer clashes with a protester near Cairo's Tahrir Square on January 28.
A protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, January 27.
Egyptian policemen and relatives on January 27 gather upon the arrival of the coffins of their colleagues killed in the violence one day earlier in Cairo.
A protester throws a rock toward opposing demonstrators on January 27 in Cairo.
Egyptian protesters throw stones toward riot police on January 27 in Tahrir Square.
An Egyptian protester runs with a live tear gas canister toward Egyptian riot police on Saturday, January 26, in Cairo.
Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
Egyptian protesters stand by the burning door of a school building on January 26, in Cairo.
An Egyptian protester carries an injured boy away from clashes with Egyptian riot police on January 26, in Cairo.
Egyptians climb over a fence at the Al-Ahly home stadium on January 26 in Cairo.
An Egyptian fan of Al-Ahly football club fires celebratory shots in the air and lights a flare as club supporters celebrate outside its headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
A protester throws a rock at riot police on January 26, in Cairo.
A fan of Al-Ahly football club lights a flare as club supporters celebrate on January 26 in Cairo.
Al-Ahly football club supporters celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
Al-Ahly football club supporters celebrate on January 26.
Smoke billows from a burning vehicle set on fire by Egyptian protesters outside the Port Said prison on January 26.
Egyptians react after the sentencing in Port Said on January 26.
An Al-Ahly soccer fan swings a live flare above his head on January 26 in Cairo.
An Egyptian protester tries to carry an injured man away from clashes with riot police on January 26, in Cairo.
Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club rally outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
An Egyptian protester runs away from a cloud of tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police on January 26, in Cairo.
Relatives of victims killed during the 2012 Port Said soccer game react after the verdict of the court, at a courthouse in Cairo, on January 26.
Relatives and friends of Egyptian protesters who were killed in Suez during clashes with riot police Friday, load a body onto an ambulance outside the morgue in Suez on January 26.
A fan of Al-Ahly football club lights a flare as club supporters celebrate outside its headquarters in Cairo on January 26.
Two protesters stand on top of a piece of furniture while riot police watch from a nearby rooftop in Cairo.
A protester throws a rock at riot police in Cairo.
An Egyptian protester walks through a cloud of tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police.
An "Ahly-Ultra" soccer fan holds a smoke flare above his head in Cairo.
A protester walks through a damaged school building.
A protester removes the net from a basketball goal in a Cairo schoolyard.
Protesters and football fans clash with riot police near Egypt's interior ministry.
Protesters and fans of Al-Masry football club take part in a demonstration in front of the prison in Port Said.
Egyptian protesters and fans of Al-Masry football club wave their club colors as they take part in a demonstration in front of the prison in the Egyptian Suez Canal city of Port Said on Friday, January 25, calling for the prisoners who are suspected of killing 74 fans of Al-Ahly club during a football match in February 2012 not to be transferred to Cairo to attend their trial. A judge sentenced 21 people to death for their roles in the riot last year.
|