( AFP File Photo)
The family of political activist Mohamed El-Gendy, who was killed on the anniversary of the 25 January Revolution in 2013, have asked for the reopening investigations into his death.
El-Gendy’s family filed a report with the Prosecutor-General demanding that the case be reopened.
The activist’s mother, Samia El-Sheikh, demanded Monday that a report by the Forensic Medicine Authority’s tripartite committee be the main report focused upon, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
The committee’s report concluded that torture caused El-Gendy’s death, rather than a car accident.
The report also called for investigations to be opened into why Al-Hilal hospital did not report the arrival of El-Gendy’s corpse to the hospital.
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-Hilal 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 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, the licence or type of car involved.
After two years of investigations, the Prosecutor-General’s office said on 17 March that El-Gendy’s death was due to a car accident, rather than torture.
In an official statement, the office said: “An anonymous vehicle hit El-Gendy, and his death could not be the result of any kind of physical torture.”
The case was closed temporarily and filed as an “involuntary killing”. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor-General assigned police forces to continue searching for the car’s 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.
