CAIRO: Three police officers were arrested Wednesday and charged with murder for their involvement in the death of Nasser Sadiq Gadallah who died after plunging from his fourth floor balcony in El Omraneya district, Giza.
The detainment of Hassan Mohammed Hassan, Sabry Abd El Ader and Maher was renewed for 15 more days. They are being held at El Omraneya police station.
Gad Sadiq Gadallah, Nasser s brother, recounted the full story to Daily News Egypt, including the day of his brother s death and the events leading up to it.
Five days before the incident, one of the four police officers, randomly stopped Nasser in the street and took all his money and his mobile phone, he said. Gad, Nasser and one of the two witnesses went to the police station and filed a complaint. The witness came with us and told the police about the incident, added Gad.
Then, early Tuesday morning, Gad said that the police officers crashed Nasser’s home. They beat the witness [Badawy Zayed] in his own home first and anybody else who stood in their way, he said.
Nasser s wife, who was with him in the apartment at the time, tried to help when the police arrived. His final words to me were Take care of the children , she told Daily News Egypt.
She tried to go down the stairs to get help, but the police officers held her back.
Although Gad and his family were tied up at the time, Gad said they too tried to make their way down the stairs for help. That’s when they heard a thud and realized that the police officers had thrown Nasser from the balcony right in front of his eight-year-old son.
I ran to the hospital with my brother in my arms, but by the time I got help they told me he was dead, continued Gad.
Gad was later told that the 24 witnesses to the event started attacking the police officers, screaming “The government is throwing people off balconies.
Nasser’s son told the police at the station that the officers picked him up by his legs and threw him over.
Mohamed Yehia, an official at the prosecutor s office at South Giza station, told Daily News Egypt about the difficulty in trying to strike a balance between giving police officers too much power and not giving them enough power.
“It is a complex equation because they will either use it or abuse it, as in Nasser s case, he said.
They have questioned nearly 35 people during the investigation into Nasser’s death.
The incident spurred a media frenzy and garnered the support of around seven human rights organizations. “They told me that legally we are going in the right direction . the officers time in jail has now been renewed to 15 days instead of the four they were given previously pending investigation, said Gad.
