Cairo: 'Occupy Maspero', January 2012 (49 images)

This was the scene at Cairo's 'Maspero' Ministry of Information building, where Egyptian protesters attempted a sit-in 'occupation' protest during late January and early February 2012.

On January 31, a march from the Maspero building to the Egyptian Parliament ended in minor clashes between protesters and young men reportedly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The last two sit-in protests in downtown Cairo have ended in chaos, as security forces battled...
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This was the scene at Cairo's 'Maspero' Ministry of Information building, where Egyptian protesters attempted a sit-in 'occupation' protest during late January and early February 2012.

On January 31, a march from the Maspero building to the Egyptian Parliament ended in minor clashes between protesters and young men reportedly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The last two sit-in protests in downtown Cairo have ended in chaos, as security forces battled activists in the streets surrounding Tahrir Square with heavy force in November and December.

After these clashes, concrete walls and barb-wire checkpoints were constructed to 'protect' government buildings near Tahrir from protesters, labeled 'thugs' by the country's ruling military council.

In January 2012, Maspero remained one of the only major government buildings in central Cairo not protected by these walls and barb wire birds-nests, and has become a new focus of protests in downtown Cairo.
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