Fact finding report handed to prosecution

Liliana Mihaila
3 Min Read

A fact finding mission that looked into the killings, attempted killings and injuries of protesters in the January 25 revolution, has handed its report to the prosecution.

The final report has not been released to the public. On Wednesday, the report was presented to President Mohamed Morsy. In a written statement, the presidency said the committee has decided not to go into details inside the report, in order to give the public prosecution a full chance to carry out its tasks.

Taqadum Al-Khatib, one of the members of the fact finding committee said: “We were hoping for the final report [to be released]…  I strongly objected to [the report not being released]. At least, they could have just released a shorter version without the names.”

Al-Khatib said the next step is for a “revolutionary court” to seriously look into the committee’s findings and bring cases to court. He added that if new evidence is found in an incident that has already been taken to court, then a new case might be considered.

According to state-run Al-Ahram, the report is 800 pages long and recommends the investigation of hundreds of officials in the police and military, regarding 16 different incidents.

The committee made sure there was evidence or a witness to back up every name it included in the report. It also called for reviewing the Police Act.

The fact finding committee was formed on 5 July, following a presidential decree which was made just days after President Mohamed Morsy was sworn in as president. It held its first meeting in the presidency’s headquarters on 9 July.

The committee was tasked with looking into crimes carried out against protesters since the onset of the revolution and throughout the transitional phase, in which the military ruled the country. The transitional phase, which started in February, 2011, ended in June, 2012, with the handover of power to Morsy.

The committee reviewed the procedures the judiciary has carried out, highlighted any shortcomings in the procedures, examined the locations where incidents took place, and gathered information and evidence—including information on crimes that were carried out against protesters but were never investigated.

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