The uprising that threatens to topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and transform the Arab world started with tech-savvy young Egyptians who tapped into widespread discontent and spread the word about the protest through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
They didn’t expect the massive uprising that would paralyze the country and draw the world’s attention. “We thought police would come to the street and force us to go home,” said Assem Farrag, a 24-year-old protester.
“But when I came to the street, I found something else,” said Farrag, who was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and had been living in a tent along with a number of other young men and women at the center of Tahrir Square.
The initial protest was promoted on a Facebook page devoted to the memory of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man who allegedly died at the hands of police in Alexandria. The government had said he suffocated after swallowing a package of drugs he was trying to hide from police.
Photos of Said’s corpse, showing his teeth broken and body badly bruised, circulated on the Internet, drawing widespread outrage. Two plainclothes police officers were later charged with excessive force and illegal arrest in connection with the incident.
Human Rights Watch says torture is regularly used by Egypt’s security forces and most victims are afraid to report abuses.
A protest was organized for Jan. 25, Police Day in Egypt, which is a national holiday. It was supposed to be an anti-torture protest, but on Jan. 14, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was driven from office by violent protests. “They saw a dictator step down,” said Rania Al-Malky, editor of Daily News Egypt, an English language newspaper. “Everybody was emboldened.”
Salma Said, 25, and other protesters say planning was largely limited to spreading the word on social network…