By Sarah Carr
CAIRO: European Union (EU) Heads of Mission to Egypt have expressed “concern” about the “circumstances of the death” of Khaled Saeid, who died in Alexandria on June 6.
The statement, issued Sunday, comes five days after preliminary findings of a second autopsy performed on Saeid’s exhumed body were announced.
The second autopsy upheld the results of the first, according to which Saeid died from asphyxiation after swallowing a plastic wrap of marijuana. Eyewitnesses however say that the 28 year-old died after he was brutally assaulted by two police officers who apprehended him in an internet café.
The EU statement “takes note of the results of the second autopsy as well as of the conflicting accounts of witnesses and statements of the family of Mr Saeid and of human rights organizations which differ with the conclusions of the second autopsy.”
The statement goes on to “welcome the declared readiness of the Egyptian authorities to conduct a judicial inquiry into this death and look forward to the inquiry being conducted impartially, transparently and swiftly in a way that will credibly resolve the discrepancies.”
The EU Heads of Mission also make reference to Egypt’s recent appearance at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva earlier this month, when Egypt’s human rights record was examined by HRC members as part of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.
“In the light [sic] of the commitment that Egypt expressed during the Universal Periodic Review, the EU Heads of Mission are confident that the Egyptian authorities will investigate allegations of abuse by police effectively and prosecute offenders,” the statement reads.
