CAIRO: A journalist has been accused of drug possession by Alexandrian police in what many activists allege to be police retaliation for accusations of police brutality the journalist made against police officers in the coastal city.
Youssef Shaaban, a journalist with the El-Badeel online news portal, was detained on Friday while he was traveling to the Abu Suleiman district of Alexandria to cover a protest. But Shaaban never made it to Abu Suleiman, where residents were protesting a private construction project that they believe will place their homes in jeopardy.
“We were stopped by policemen and put in a microbus,” Hady Mahmoud, an activist who was with Shaaban at the time, told Daily News Egypt.
Head of Alexandria criminal investigations Khaled Shalaby allegedly cursed at Shaaban and attempted to hit him, saying, “I’ll teach you how to write properly,” according to Mahmoud.
Shaaban, Mahmoud, and six others were taken to the Montaza Police Station, where Shaaban was then separated from the group and taken elsewhere.
Mahmoud was held alongside nine other people until he was moved to Raml Police Station No. 2. Once there, Mahmoud stated that he was physically assaulted and detained overnight.
The next day, Mahmoud and five others were blindfolded, their wrists were handcuffed behind their backs, and their shoes and socks were confiscated, according to Mahmoud..
They were then placed in a microbus that drove around the city for a considerable period of time, Mahmoud continued. The group of six were eventually released from the microbus at Alexandria’s Ring Road. They were barefoot and did not have their wallets or mobile phones, which the police had taken but never returned.
Mahmoud alleged that Shalaby’s treatment of Shaaban is in response to a series of articles the latter recently wrote that accuse the Alexandrian police of brutality and corruption.
One such article entitled “Al-Adly Phone” — a reference to Interior Minister Habib El-Adly — accused Alexandrian police officers of stealing detained activists’ mobile phones, bags, glasses, handbags, and various other personal belongings.
El-Badeel news portal said in an article published on Sunday that Shaaban — who has been detained on several occasions during protests in Alexandria — received threats during his coverage of the death of 19-year-old Ahmed Shaaban (not related to Youssef Shaaban). Ahmed Shaaban’s body was recently discovered in an Alexandrian canal; his family alleged that the 19-year-old was tortured to death by Alexandrian police officers.
According to El-Badeel lawyer Ahmed Mamdouh, Youssef Shaaban was brought before the public prosecution office on Saturday based upon drug possession charges. These charges were brought against him without legal representation — even though his lawyers were physically in the building at the time.
The public prosecution office ordered that Youssef Shaaban remain in police custody for four days while police investigate the drug charges brought against him.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information said that Youssef Shaaban’s arrest demonstrated that police violations “are on the rise in the run up to parliamentary elections.”
