By Marwa Al-A’asar
CAIRO: An Alexandria activist has been imprisoned for protesting the alleged manslaughter of 28-year-old Khaled Saeid, Arabic Network for Human Rights Information Director Gamal Eid told Daily News Egypt Friday.
Alexandria’s Manshia Court sentenced Hassan Moustafa Abdel-Fattah, a member of the April 6 Movement, to six months in prison during an urgent trial Wednesday following a prompt investigation, Eid, also a lawyer, added.
On June 10, police arrested Abdel-Fattah during a demonstration outside Sidi Gaber police station against the alleged murder of Khaled Saeid by two police informants.
Abdel-Fattah claimed he was beaten by a specific police officer and dragged in the street during the protest.
The prosecutor ordered his release shortly, along with a forensic examination of his body.
However, according to Eid, state security refused to release Abdel-Fattah, referring him to another prosecution office claiming he was requested in another case.
Abdel-Fattah was interrogated Monday for the third time in the same week where the prosecutor held him on remand for four days.
“When lawyers headed to the prosecution office to demand a forensic examination of his wounds, they were surprised to find out that he had already gone on trial for assaulting a police officer,” Eid said.
The court also ordered Abdel-Fattah to pay a LE 2,000 fine and a LE 1,000 bail.
“Such cases take at least one year in court, not finalized in a one-day trial session. [But it seems that] the main reason behind holding him in custody all this time is to give a chance for his injuries to heal and disappear,” Eid argued.
“This incident echoes a flawed justice [system],” he added.
The ruling can be appealed.
On June 10, Saeid was allegedly beaten to death by two informants outside a cyber café in the Cleopatra neighborhood in Alexandria based on eyewitness testimonies.
Images of Saeid’s severely disfigured face taken after his death caused outrage by local and international human rights organizations, activists and opposition groups.
Protests broke out in Cairo and Alexandria calling for justice. More protests are scheduled for next week.
A silent protest which took place along the Alexandria corniche on Friday afternoon drew hundreds, with similar protests organized in Cairo and other governorates.
Two web pages created by activists on social network website Facebook to expose facts about Saeid’s case have gathered around 200,000 supporters so far.
The Muslim Brotherhood announced in a statement Thursday evening a campaign for collecting 100,000 signatures to call for the trial of the Police Directorate Chief in Alexandria in his capacity as the one in charge of security in the governorate.
A new autopsy was performed on Saeid’s body Wednesday at the request of his family after the original one had concluded that he died from asphyxiation caused by swallowing a drug wrap.
The new autopsy report is scheduled to be released within a few days.
