By Sarah Carr and Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: A witness in the case of the death of Khaled Saeid has been physically assaulted, the Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence said Wednesday.
According to the center’s press statement, Tamer El-Sayyed Abdel-Meneim Mostafa was attacked by four people at 1 am on Tuesday in Cleopatra, Alexandria. The attack reportedly left Mostafa with injuries to the eye and leg requiring hospitalization overnight.
Two of Mostafa’s assailants are said to be witnesses who testified in defense of the police during the investigation into the death of 28-year-old Saeid, who died after being apprehended by two policemen in Cleopatra on the evening of June 6.
Eyewitnesses have testified to seeing Saeid being viciously assaulted by the two policemen. Two autopsy reports concluded that Saeid died after asphyxiating on a drug wrap of marijuana.
Nadim says in its press statement that Mostafa was assaulted at the behest of police officer Ahmed Othman, both because Mostafa allegedly knows one of the witnesses who saw Othman at the scene of Saeid’s death shortly after the latter died, and because he has other information about the case.
Mostafa lodged a complaint against Othman and two of his assailants, Sherif Weyass Abol Ela and Ibrahim El-Nono at the public prosecution office.
Nadim lawyer Mohamed Abdel-Aziz says that the El-Sharq public prosecution office will hear Mostafa’s testimony on Thursday.
Al-Shorouk newspaper also reported Wednesday that Saeid’s family have terminated the power of attorney granted to Nadim Center lawyers.
But Saeid’s family gave conflicting responses to this claim.
While Saeid’s brother, Ahmed, told Daily News Egypt, “We absolutely did not cancel the power of attorney,” Saeid’s uncle, Ali Qassem said that Nadim had not been given a power of attorney in the first place.
“We never gave power of attorney to the Nadim Center; we hired Mohamed Abdel- Aziz and two other lawyers who have done a great job in the investigation phase of the case so far.
“But I have assigned other big criminal defense lawyers to help handle the case in the criminal courts, including Yehia Al-Gamal, Hafez Abu Seada, Amin El-Kholy and Abdel-Rahman El-Gohary,” Qassem said, adding that they will be responsible for the case brought against the public prosecution office accusing it of “forging Saeid’s criminal record to include crimes he did not commit.”
Head of the Nadim center Aida Seif El-Dawla commented: “Power of attorney or not, we shall be there and we shall continue working on the case as a center. We are involved in the case as a human rights organization working on torture. We shall represent them if they want. We shall support them otherwise if they do not want.”
