Egypt military ‘regrets transgressions’ on female protesters

Egypt’s military yesterday “strongly regretted” what it called “transgressions” against protesters, in a statement addressed to women after soldiers beat and stripped a female demonstrator.

The military would take legal action against those responsible for the abuse, said the statement, which came after a women’s march in Cairo denouncing attacks on female protesters.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces expresses its strong regret to the great women of Egypt over transgressions that occurred during recent incidents in the protests outside Parliament and the Cabinet,” it said in the statement.

The military respected women’s right to take part in protests and had taken “all legal measures to hold accountable the people responsible for these violations,” said the statement posted on the military’s Facebook page.

Pictures and video of soldiers beating and partly stripping a veiled woman as they dragged her sparked outrage in Egypt, where clashes between anti-military protesters and security forces marked their fifth day yesterday

A military spokesman said that the soldiers who beat protesters were not acting on orders and had been enraged by attacks on themselves.

Pictures of troops kicking the woman, as one soldier apparently grinned, sent shockwaves among activists and the independent media.