By Sarah Carr and Ingy Hassieb
CAIRO: The family of Khaled Saeid has denied allegations that he was dishonorably discharged from the army after he was discovered in possession of marijuana.
The state news agency reported Tuesday that investigations carried out by the Alexandria appeals prosecution office have revealed that the 28 year-old was both allegedly discharged during his 3-year army service and convicted of drugs possession and military indiscipline.
Since the first autopsy report was issued a week after Saied died on June 6, the interior ministry and state-run media have repeatedly alleged that Saeid was a drug user. State daily Al Gomhuria has been referring to Saied as the “marijuana martyr”, prompting a demonstration in front of its downtown headquarters on Tuesday.
Both the first and second autopsy reports found that Saeid died from asphyxiation after swallowing a plastic wrap of marijuana, provoking outrage from Saied’s family and members of the public who say that eyewitness testimony and photographs of his badly disfigured skull prove that the 28-year-old was beaten to death by two police officers who apprehended him in an Alexandria internet café.
Saeid’s sister, Zahra, rejected allegations that her brother was dishonorably discharged.
“That is not true. He escaped the military service, and was AWOL for two years, and then he returned and stayed for a year. That’s why he got a certificate saying he was dishonorably discharged, but he did not get discharged for drug possession,” Zahra told Daily News Egypt.
Zahra said that during the two years “he stayed at home normally” because “they never look for anyone who leaves the army.”
The Muslim Brotherhood-run website (Ikhwanweb) also reported Tuesday that members of Saeid’s family have been charged with bribing witnesses to provide testimonies about Saied’s death.
“Nothing of all that happened,” Zahra said.
“How could we have bribed all the people who were standing in the street when it happened?” she continued.
Since Saied’s death numerous witnesses have given evidence to the public prosecution office describing seeing two policemen enter the internet café where Saeid was and strike his head against a marble slab before dragging him into the entrance of a neighboring building where they continued to beat him.
Eyewitnesses say that Saeid died at the scene, as a result of the beating.
The victim’s uncle, Ali Kassem, also confirmed that there were no charges of bribery. The head of the investigation bureau was replying to journalists’ questions about the eyewitnesses and casually said they were paid by the family, according to Kassem.
It was just a word the official threw around; there are no charges, the uncle explained.
“I hope they would file official charges, instead of throwing words around, so that we can actually go to court. We don’t trust the police but we trust the court, because I am sure that the court would never go against the law. The Egyptian court’s history is well known and it’s reputable … despite all the attempts at corruption,” said Kassem. “Our family is educated and cultured and none of us have ever been accused of any such thing.”
He also said that they were waiting for the results from the investigation, and haven’t heard anything yet.
