Egypt prosecutor detains officer accused of torture
Great news! The officer who tortured and sexually abused driver Emad Kabeer will be prosecuted.
But that will not end the practice. Those are not just "few rotten apples." Mubarak's policing system is classist, abusive, unprofessional and repressive. Still the campaign launched by the Egyptian bloggers and the independent press was strong enough to push the regime to start investigating the case. This sends a powerful message to anyone who's involved in torture: Your victims will not be silent any more...
But that will not end the practice. Those are not just "few rotten apples." Mubarak's policing system is classist, abusive, unprofessional and repressive. Still the campaign launched by the Egyptian bloggers and the independent press was strong enough to push the regime to start investigating the case. This sends a powerful message to anyone who's involved in torture: Your victims will not be silent any more...
Egypt prosecutor detains officer accused of torture
26 Dec 2006
CAIRO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An Egyptian prosecutor ordered the four-day detention of a police officer accused of sexually assaulting a prisoner, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
They said prosecutor Bakr Ahmed Bakr questioned assistant-investigation officer Islam Nabih on Tuesday. He also ordered the detention of Reda Fathi, a non-commissioned officer, for four days.
A video circulated on Egyptian blogs last month and sparked uproar. It showed Imad al-Kabir, a bus driver, lying on the floor, naked from the waist down, with his hands bound behind his back and his legs held in the air.
He screams and begs as he is sodomised with a stick while those around him, whose faces are not visible, taunt him.
Kabir's lawyer has said the torture took place in January 2006 in a police station in Bulaq al-Dakrur after Kabir was detained and beaten for intervening to stop an argument between the police officers and his brother.