By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: On Saturday the trial of two policemen implicated in the death of Khaled Saeid was adjourned to Jan. 22 by the Alexandria Criminal Court amid courtroom chaos that was marred by a war of words between the families of Saied and the defendants.
Eye witnesses said the two policemen beat Saeid to death. The two men, however, are being tried for charges of misuse of force by a public official, illegal arrest, and torture of an individual arrested illegally.
During the trial’s recess, a man described by Saeid’s brother as a “police informant” distributed flyers inside the courtroom that read “Khaled Saied: A Bad Reputation” and “Khaled Saeid: the Emperor of Weed.”
“No one is allowed to distribute flyers inside the [courtroom, except] police informants,” Ahmed Saeid, Khaled Saeid’s brother, told Daily News Egypt. “If I tried to distribute flyers [in favor of Saeid, the authorities] wouldn’t let me.”
The defendants’ relatives threw the flyers and their slippers at Saeid’s relatives, calling them “drug addicts,” according to the brother.
Ahmed Saeid added that one of the defendants, Awad Suleiman, verbally attacked Saeid’s relatives, sparking a long verbal argument that ended once Saeid’s relatives momentarily left the courtroom in order to ease the tension in the atmosphere.
“No one did anything to them [the defendants’ relatives] for attacking us,” Ahmed Saeid said.
However, Ahmed Saeid denied media reports that his family members were beaten during the courtroom commotion.
“My mother had flyers and cigarettes butts thrown at her,” he said.
The court listened to the testimonies of El Sebae Ahmed El Sebae, Egypt’s chief coroner, and Mohamed Abdel Aziz, the first coroner to perform an autopsy on Khaled Saeid’s body.
The two witnesses said that Saeid died of swallowing a drug wrap, denying claims that Saeid was beaten to death by the two police officers.
“Where is this so-called drug wrap?” Ahmed Saeid asked. “None of us have seen [the drugs] or any pictures of [the drugs].”
Khaled Saeid died after being apprehended by policemen Suleiman and Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud on June 6, 2010 in an internet café in Cleopatra, Alexandria.
The two policemen are charged with misuse of force by a public official, illegal arrest, and the torture of an individual arrested illegally.
