CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has commissioned its legal department to look into the case of the incarceration of an 18-year-old in Kafr El-Sheikh on the first day of Ramadan.
Mohamed Samir El-Hagari was taken on Aug. 20 by security forces who were conducting a search on shops in Port Said Street in Kafr El-Sheikh.
Mohamed s father Samir El-Hagari, who owns a cafeteria on Port Said Street, told Daily News Egypt that the officer in charge of the raid had ordered a konafa stand in front of the cafeteria to be brought down, though he insisted he had the requisite permit for it.
El-Hagari claims that when he asked the officer to stop he was punched in the chest, at which point Mohamed intervened to push the officer away from his father. The officer ordered police forces to take Mohamed in, allegedly beating him unconscious. The officer then claimed he would accuse Mohamed of attacking him with a weapon.
The prosecution released Mohamed three days later but he remained in custody at a Kafr El-Sheikh police station. He was transferred under the emergency law and sent to Borg El-Arab prison near Alexandria where he has remained ever since.
An arrest order was issued for him under the emergency law, which grants security forces the power to detain civilians without charge for periods up to 30 days before the detainee is supposed to appear before a judge.
El-Hagari met with lawyers from ANHRI earlier this week to go over the details of the incident and is currently in the process of giving them power of attorney to pursue the case.
Gamal Eid, head of ANHRI told Daily News Egypt, Even if it is not a matter of freedom of expression we will look into it from the legal perspective. Even if our organization does not adopt it as a human rights case, our legal aid department will still pursue the matter.
El-Hagari has managed to see his son once sine his transfer to Borg El-Arab and is due to visit him again today. No charges have been filed against Mohamed as of yet.
My son is not a criminal, he is a child. My son was not armed with anything, the officer was hitting me and my son pushed him, he said.
