By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: A protester in Tahrir Square claimed that he was abducted for a week and beaten by police officers, while a dozen protesters entered their fifth day on hunger strike.
Activists in Tahrir Square said that on dawn Thursday, protester Mohamed Abdel Raoof was found near the square severely bruised and beaten.
“His teeth were broken, his eyes were severely bruised and he had cigarette burns all over his body,” activist Nadia Gouda told Daily News Egypt.
Protesters said Abdel Raoof was in a state of shock and could not speak to the media when contacted by DNE Thursday afternoon. They volunteered to describe the events as recounted by Abdel-Raoof earlier in the day.
An owner of an import and export company in his 40s, Abdel Raoof was one of the people who secured the entrances of Tahrir Square during the sit-in which started on July 8.
He reportedly went to buy breakfast on the morning of July 8, from a place on Bab El-Louq Street, when a police officer noticed his badge stating that he was part of the square’s security. The officer cursed him and mocked him saying, “Do you think you’re police officers?”
Abdel Raoof was then allegedly beaten, blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed area, where he was beaten systematically by seven officers.
Protesters said Abdel Raoof refused to go to a hospital despite his bad condition, out of fear that the police officer who abducted him would find out and kill him. He was treated at a makeshift hospital in the square.
Gouda said Abdel Raoof was still contemplating whether to file a complaint to the Prosecutor General.
The interior ministry told Daily News Egypt that it had no information regarding the issue.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Lawyers’ Union filed a complaint to the Prosecutor General on Thursday on behalf of 12 protesters who have been on hunger strike in Tahrir Square since July 10, according to media reports
Protesters said that they would continue their strike until demands are met.
Demands include handing over power to a presidential council, the swift and public prosecution of former government officials accused of corruption and killing peaceful protesters and the release of all civilians tried in military courts.
The complaint called for a swift investigation into the incident, listing the protesters’ demands and sending a medical committee to follow up on their health condition.
Lawyers also called for the investigation of the head of Qasr El-Nil police station for refusing to accept the complaint filed by protesters when they began the hunger strike.
Some media reports said the number of protesters on hunger strike in Tahrir is 27, whose health was reportedly deteriorating as they entered day five.
A Daily News Egypt photographer on site said that Mohamed Fawzy, member of the National Democratic Front who is on hunger strike, was in a bad condition. His blood sugar reached 40 but refused to receive any medical treatment.
Fawzy said he would only accept treatment when the government acknowledges him and meets demands, adding that he would then receive medical care in the prestigious International Sharm El-Sheikh Hospital, where ousted president Hosni Mubarak is currently being held.
