CAIRO: The existence of a video showing a Lebanese detainee being tortured by Egyptian police has been denied by his defense team.
The Lebanese media had reported of – and in one case, aired – a video which purportedly showed Egyptian police officers hitting the main suspect in the Hezbollah cell case, Samy Hany Shihab.
“These are rumors, an aide to Shihab’s lawyer Montasser Al-Zayat told Daily News Egypt, “there is no video and Shihab himself said no such video was made.
However other torture allegations still exist regarding the detainees who have spent over four months in the custody of Egyptian State Security. Another detainee, Adel Ghareez, has made allegations of torture and the State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawy has ordered that all the detainees be examined by a forensic team to ascertain if they had been tortured.
Ghareez is being represented by another lawyer, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, who submitted a motion to the State Security Prosecutor to investigate the torture claims.
Forty-nine people, about half whom are in custody, are being charged with operating a cell in Egypt which was taking orders from Hezbollah.
Investigations in the case have been concluded and the case is with the Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud who will decide which court to refer it to.
The case has led to much criticism of Hezbollah by the Egyptian government, which has taken affront at the perceived temerity of the Lebanese Shia group. The state press has followed suit, constantly attack the group and its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In comments made in a speech Friday evening, Nasrallah seemed unrepentant about the cell and insisted that it was not geared towards operations in Egypt, but rather to assist Hamas across the border in the Gaza strip.
“We didn’t set up a cell in Egypt and we don’t intend to set up a cell in Egypt, he said. “We are not seeking to target Egypt, its security, its regime or its stability.
“What has the Egyptian regime gained from its campaign against Hezbollah? The Egyptian regime has not gained anything from this campaign. They failed to tar the image of Hezbollah, he said.
Nasrallah added, “At that time I heard the Egyptian president warning against the wrath of his country. At that time we were hoping to see Egypt’s wrath as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were murdered and Gaza was abandoned.
Addressing the Egyptian regime he said, “You have done us a great service with this campaign, we thank you. We won’t explain it now, but the things will be known soon.
Security forces have conducted numerous raids in Sinai in search of some 25 people they suspect of being part of the cell. Those already in custody are waiting on the Prosecutor General to make a decision on whether to charge them or not.
“We are waiting for the Prosecutor General to make his decision, Al-Zayat’s aide said, “and what charges he intends to bring against the detainees.
