By Tamim Elyan
CAIRO: The Front to Defend Egypt’s Protestors (FDEP) filed Wednesday a complaint against ousted president Hosni Mubarak, former minister of interior Habib Al-Adly, and other ministry officials to the Prosecutor General accusing them of using violence against protesters that led to death and injury.
The complaint, filed on behalf of the victims’ families, accused Mubarak, as the highest commander of the police force and Al-Adly of violating article 184 of the constitution, which states that the role of police is to ensure citizens’ safety and security, and the international accord for civil and political right of which Egypt is a signatory.
According to the FDEP, 503 were killed during demonstrations calling for the overthrow of Mubarak’s regime. The families of 154 of those killed and 126 of the injured authorized FDEP to file the complaint on their behalf.
In the complaint, lawyers demanded the investigation of Al-Adly and anyone proven to be involved in using violence against protestors. They also called for applying article 92 of the penal code which stipulates a maximum security prison sentence to anyone who had authority over the army or police but gave orders contrary to the legal mandate to protect the people; and article 235 punishing anyone involved in murder with execution or strict imprisonment.
The FDEP also filed a complaint to the Ministry of Health demanding the formation of a committee to review all the records of those dead and injured, ambulance communications and hospital records in the period between Jan. 25 and Feb. 15 and comparing it with existing records.
The complaint said that many unidentified bodies of protestors in Cairo were buried without sufficient announcement or any attempt to find and notify their families. It also accused some hospitals of “forging” incorrect data about the causes of death or injury and forcing families to sign them.
The general prosecution questioned FDEP’s lawyers on the cases of three victims shortly after the complaint was filed.
New Minister of Interior Mahmoud Wagdy told state TV Tuesday night that police only used live ammunition in extreme circumstances, saying protests were infiltrated by violent members wielding weapons.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had vowed to bring those involved in killing protesters to justice. State-run press reported this week that three policemen were arrested in Alexandria for alleged use of live ammunition against protesters.
About a dozen protesters gathered in front of the General Prosecutor’s office demanding the release of all political prisoners and punishing those responsible for deaths and injuries among protesters.
