Residents of Warraq Island shut down the New Warraq City Development Authority's offices on Tuesday, blocking the entrance and halting work in protest against a court ruling sentencing a resident to prison on what they call fabricated charges. The action escalates protests that began after a November 13 ruling. The detainee's father is involved in reestablishing a healthcare clinic on the island.
In a sign of rising tensions on Warraq Island, residents shut down the offices of the New Warraq City Development Authority on Tuesday, blocking the main entrance and stopping all operations. The protest responded to a November 13 court ruling that sentenced Abdel Razek Walid to two years in prison for theft charges his father describes as entirely fabricated.
The authority, established in 2018, manages home and land sales on the island, sets compensation rates, and handles procedures linked to the state's efforts to demolish residents' homes for corporate real estate projects. This shutdown escalates demonstrations organized near the Shorouk police station over the past few days.
Walid Abdel Razek, the detainee's father, told Mada Masr that his son was summoned, arrested, tried, and convicted in just eight days—a rushed process suggesting the accusations were invented. He added that his son and another clinic team member received threatening calls from unidentified people days before the arrest. Earlier this month, the Shorouk police station summoned his son, detaining him for a full day during which an officer cursed at him, saying: “So you’re from Warraq Island? The ones who are so full of themselves?”
Abdel Razek stated that his son was forced to sign a police report accusing him of stealing construction cables, based solely on security staff claims at a site, with no material evidence and no property seized for examination. Warraq residents are rebuilding their healthcare clinic after its demolition alongside the island's post office and youth center, as part of the state's campaign to turn the area into a real estate investment project buying out homes and land to displace inhabitants.
National Security Agency officers tried to calm the situation, but residents persisted with their protest all day. No appeal hearing has been scheduled yet.