Hi there,

This month, Democracy Now! marks 29 years of fearless independent journalism. Presidents have come, gone and come back again, but Democracy Now! remains, playing the same critical role in our democracy: shining a spotlight on corporate and government abuses of power and raising up the voices of scholars, advocates, scientists, activists, artists and ordinary people working for a more peaceful and just world. If our journalism is important to you, please donate today in honor of our 29th anniversary. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!

Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

“I Either Leave Here Free or Dead”: Egyptian Protester Refuses to Leave Tahrir Square Despite Violent Attacks by Mubarak Supporters

Web ExclusiveFebruary 02, 2011
Listen
Media Options
Listen

Egyptian protester Nazly Hussein describes bloodshed in Cairo and the role of the United States in funding the violent oppression by the Egyptian government.

NAZLY HUSSEIN: I am Nazly Hussein. I was at a medical center about half an hour ago. People come in with all kinds of injuries. People are dead. I tried to get a count of how many people are dead, and I couldn’t.

This is unbelievable. We are surrounded from all directions with thugs. A lot of them were caught. A lot of them belong obviously to National Democratic Party or to police forces. I don’t know if this is documented. I saw cards, identity cards of people in the police forces.

We’ve been on the square for the past few days. I slept in the middle of the square for four nights. I felt extremely safe, extremely safe. Today, the army was surrounding us, and there was also night watch. People had their shifts, and they were watching the square.

Today, there were demonstrations. They came in the form of demonstrations, pro-Mubarak demonstrations. And then all of a sudden — and then we had taken — everyone met and talked and said people can come in and demonstrate for Mubarak. It’s freedom of expression. [inaudible], as well. And then, all of a sudden, they have knives. They have — right now they’re throwing fire balls. They’re throwing all kinds of things, all kinds of things, at us, Molotovs, everything, everything. Things are on fire around us. The army is trying to keep them out. But they’re not doing much. When they come really, really close, shoot in the air for people to back off. But they’ve been surrounding us all day, all day, all day. People in the middle of the square are terrified. And on the outskirts, around all the entrances and exits, we’re all protesting there, but people come back really, really injured. I didn’t go to the front line, to be honest. But people come back really, really injured.

The international community must come out and say, “Enough is enough. Enough is enough” Taxpayers in the United States must know where their money is going. We’ve been hit with all kinds of weapons, all made in the United States of America. And this is all documented. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and video. There’s tear gas canisters that were exported in 2003 — and there’s a warning: do not use after 2003 — were made in the U.S.A. The rubber bullets were also made in the U.S.A. The [inaudible] bullets, I don’t know what they’re called, the ones that shatter into a million bullets, also made in the U.S.A. The taxpayers’ money are being part and they’re contributing to my oppression. This needs to stop. For people who call for democracy and for freedom of expression and for all kinds of rights, this needs to stop. There needs to be an end to this.

We’ve been out here about — I don’t know how long now. I’ve lost track. About eight days. I’ve been on the square. I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving. I either leave here free or dead. I either leave here free or dead.

Related Story

StoryJan 27, 2025Pressure Grows to Free Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah & Stop Harassment of Hossam Bahgat
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top