After two years of investigations the Prosecutor General’s office said Tuesday the death of political activist Mohamed El-Gendy was due to a car accident, not torture.
The office said in an official statement: “An anonymous vehicle hit El-Gendy, and his death could not be resulted from any kind of physical torture.”
The case was closed temporarily and filed as an “involuntary killing”. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor assigned the police forces to continue searching for the car owner.
The investigations made by a committee of forensic pathology experts and professors indicated in their report that one of the witnesses in the case misled the prosecution during the investigations. The witness allegedly said he saw El-Gendy being tortured at one of the Central Security Forces camps, and when asked about its place he did not disclose further information. The prosecution added they learned El-Gendy was at a hospital during the exact time when the witness reported him being tortured. The witness is currently being referred to the criminal court on charges of reporting false news.
El-Gendy, 27, originally from Tanta, was last seen heading to Tahrir Square on 28 January 2013 to participate in the second anniversary of the 25 January Revolution sit-in demanding the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime. Three days later, he appeared in Al-Helal hospital in the Ramsis area of Downtown Cairo covered with bruises and severe injuries.
He was reportedly abducted by police forces, after an argument with a police officer, and tortured for those three days at one of the informal detention facilities at the Al-Darb Al-Ahmar Central Security Forces camp. Officials at the time reported his injuries were due to a car accident, without mentioning any further details on the car owner of the licence or type of the car.
El-Gendy was an outspoken opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, and wrote anti-Brotherhood political views on social media accounts. He was also an active member in Popular Current led by former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy. The last tweet before his death said: “The revolution continues, down with the state of MB”.
