NEW YORK, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the most recent surge of violence in Egypt where at least 80 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the past two days.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the upsurge of violence in Egypt that has left scores dead and hundreds injured, following protests on Friday and Saturday,” Ban’s press office said in a statement on Saturday.
According to the Egyptian Health Ministry, 72 people were killed and 292 injured in Cairo, while eight people were killed and at least 194 injured in Alexandria.
The UN chief called on Egypt authorities to “act with full respect for human rights, including guaranteeing the rights to free speech and assembly.” At the same time he urged the demonstrators to “to exercise restraint and preserve the peaceful nature of their protests.”
Ban also reiterated his previous calls for immediate release of the country’s deposed President Mohammed Morsi and eight Muslim Brotherhood leaders, who are currently in detention by the Egyptian military on charges of conspiracy and murder.
The Egyptian army deposed Morsi, who narrowly won the country’s first free presidential election last June with 51.7 percent of the vote, following mass nationwide protests against the rule of the Islamist president.
His current whereabouts remain unknown, but he is rumored to be transferred soon to a Cairo prison where former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is being held.
Earlier in July, at least 51 people were killed and 435 injured in violent clashes outside the elite Republican Guards' headquarters in Cairo where Morsi was believed to be held at the time.
