FAYOUM: On Aug. 19, 2007, 42-year-old Mohamed Gomaa Hassan Dahshoury was taken by a police patrol from his used items shop in Kamin, Fayoum. One month later his battered body was lying in a hospital morgue.
Seven months further on, and it has not been removed, nor will it be, say his family, until there is a transparent and just investigation into the cause of his death.
“Mohamed was protecting a 14-year-old boy who had run into his shop to hide, Ibrahim Dahshoury, the deceased’s brother, told Daily News Egypt. “When a man came in after the boy and began to attack him, Mohamed intervened. It turned out the man was a plainclothes police officer. He threatened Mohamed before returning to his shop with three other men and took him to the Fayoum police station. There, they beat him to a pulp before throwing him out in the street.
“We found him in the street unable to speak and only partially conscious. There was blood seeping from his mouth. We realized he needed emergency hospital treatment so we took him to the local government hospital, he continued.
After entering the government hospital, the Dahshoury family made a report at the in-house police office, as is procedure for all patients suffering from injuries with unnatural causes. However, when the Dahshoury family stated that his injuries where the result of the time spent in police custody, the hospital refused to treat him, they alleged.
“They let him in to the hospital only when we agreed to sign a report which said that he had sustained these horrific injuries when he fell down some stairs. We had no choice – it was either that or let him die.
Dahshoury’s family alleges that the officer they believe is responsible for Mohamed’s death, Osama Gomaa, repeatedly offered them bribes to keep quiet about the torture.
“When we moved him to a private hospital, he underwent an operation which cost LE 14,000, said Ibrahim Dahshoury.
According to Ibrahim, Mohamed Hashim, a former politician and friend of Osama Gomaa, paid LE 6,000 towards these costs to stop them filing a report. They took the money but said they would not report the incident only if Mohamed’s condition improved.
However, doctors at Mecca private hospital where Mohamed was being treated, said that nothing could be done to save him. He was diagnosed with severe liver, kidney and spleen trauma as well as internal hemorrhage.
“It was only then, after the operation when he had gained consciousness, that he was able to tell me the course of events in full, how he was brutally beaten at the police station.
Ibrahim and his brothers Ramadan and Farouq told Daily News Egypt that their brother, married and father of three, was locked in a room four square meter room, commonly known as el-talaga, or the fridge, blindfolded and his hands tied. Later he was taken from his cell and beaten by police.
“We were offered two more bribes, after Mohamed’s death. One MP offered us LE 150,000. When we refused we were approached by a middle-man, who offered LE 250,000 so we wouldn’t take the issue to court. We refused.
Battle with Public Prosecution Office
Five months after Mohamed’s death, the Dahshoury family are battling to take the matter to a criminal court.
“The problem is getting it past the Public Prosecution, which is linked to the Interior Ministry, Eid Sayed Abdallah of Hisham Mubarak centre for Human Rights, the lawyer acting on behalf of the Dahshoury family, told Daily News Egypt.
The body was moved back to the public hospital morgue for a post mortem, which can only be performed by a government appointed coroner.
The coroner who performed the post mortem, Dia El-Din Wagih, refused to specify the cause of death, saying it was most likely caused by a fall.
The freezer holding Mohamed’s body was switched off for three days as it lay in the government hospital, despite the fact it is under constant police guard.
Dahshoury’s family accuse the police of intentionally switching off the electricity to prevent further investigations being performed on the body.
“We demanded a second post mortem to be held with the chief coroner, continued Abdullah. “But his report was worse than the first, completely ruling out the possibility of torture, despite the fact we had two nurses who gave eye witness reports stating they saw wounds covering Dahshoury’s body. The head of the public hospital [who was earlier fired for negligence] was automatically reinstated.
Arrest of a DoctorHowever, the case lacks a chief witness: the director of the Mecca private hospital in Fayoum. Ahmad Mohamed Abdel Rahman was arrested four months ago after he refused to change the reports he made daily on Mohamed’s condition, under the pretext that he organizes the local elections for the Muslim Brotherhood in Fayoum.
“Just before our father was arrested, people kept ringing to speak to him, Abdel Rahman’s daughter Fatima told Daily News Egypt. “We asked him what was going on, and he said that a man had been tortured and they were trying to make him testify otherwise. A couple of days later they detained him in the street. Then they came to the house, searching everywhere, even the toilet siphon. He is now being held in Tora prison.
On March 24, lawyer Abdallah filed an appeal to take the case straight to a criminal court.
“I think the public prosecution will either throw the case out completely, said Abdallah, “or allow us to take it to court. But we need the approval of the general lawyer for the public prosecution. But at present the case is riddled with contradictory statements on the part of the accused, as well as the coroners.
