By Manar Mohsen
A Giza Criminal Court on Wednesday acquitted Hassan Abdel Rahman, the former head of the dissolved State Security Investigations Service (SSI), and 40 other current and former police officers accused of shredding, burning and destroying State Security documents during and after the 2011 uprising.
The prosecution accused the defendants of “issuing orders to destroy all [SSI] files,” which included information regarding Egypt’s national security.
The defence lawyers at the Giza court presented witness accounts of Egyptian Homeland Security (EHS) officers who testified that most documents have been preserved in their main department.
The Ministry of Interior established the EHS in March 2011 to replace the SSI that was abolished following the 2011 uprising.
Witnesses from the EHS said during previous court sessions that there was no crime committed for the accused to stand trial.
Defence lawyers argued that the accused should be commended, rather than stand trial, for their service in protecting the security apparatus and the security situation inside Egypt.
