CAIRO: Head of the Supreme Council for Armed Force (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, ordered an investigation into the killing of Ramy Fakhry, an electrical engineer who was shot at an army checkpoint in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The findings of the investigation are to be immediately presented to the council, according to a statement published on the SCAF’s official Facebook page on Tuesday.
The SCAF said it has closely followed reports made by “extremist and agenda-driven satellite channels that aim to ignite sectarian strife” by implying that the council is biased towards one party against the other.
It stressed that its main responsibility in the coming period is to preserve the nation’s unity against any attempt to divide it.
The statement was published less than a day after around 150 people held a vigil for Fakhry near St. Mark’s Church in Heliopolis
Fakhry’s friends who organized the candlelight vigil on Monday night held placards reading, “Why was Ramy killed?” and “Where are Ramy’s rights?”
Fakhry, 27, was driving from Cairo back to Damietta where he works, after attending a wedding. Friends say he left the wedding at some point between 11 and 11:30 pm on Friday.
When he failed to show up for work the next morning, Fakhry’s employers made enquiries and discovered that his body was in the Salaheyya General Hospital in Sharqeyya governorate. Friends say Fakhry had been taken there, already dead, at around 3:15 am.
According to one, unconfirmed, version of events, Fakhry stopped his car just short of a checkpoint when he saw a gunfight between army personnel and alleged drug dealers. He was shot three times in the head, neck and chest, as he attempted to drive away.
Friends stressed that it is “impossible” that he would have disobeyed an army order.
They called for a transparent and thorough investigation into his death. They added that if the investigations prove that he was killed by mistake, an official apology should be issued from the army to his family and the people responsible should be held accountable.
“The army is enforcing a blackout on any information relating to Fakhry’s death,” employee in the British Council, Ramy Boutros, told Daily News Egypt at the vigil.
“I felt a grave injustice when I heard the news,” university student, Merei Qouri told DNE.
“The army, which is the only source of protection in my country, is killing innocent people for no reason,” she added.
The family was taking condolences at the church. Friends said they didn’t want to talk to the media.
Many people joined the vigil, although they didn’t know Fakhry personally.
“It could’ve been me or my brother or my husband killed instead of Ramy that night,” human rights activist Salma Saied said.
“Day after day, the army proves that it’s incapable of dealing with the people,” she added.
Post-graduate student Lobna Darwish said she was shocked when she heard the news, although she didn’t know Fakhry personally.
“There have been many violations by the army, but this was just too much,” she said.
“The army is ignoring the people’s [rights] just like [ousted president Hosni Mubarak] and the former regime used to ignore them,” she added.
“I’m very sad for what happened to this Egyptian man,” Saeid Ramadan, 65 said.
At the vigil friends described Ramy’s contagious smile and extreme kindness, which would remain with them long after his death.
Film director Fady Gallab, 40, said Fakhry was like a son to him.
“He was known for his amazing smile and he was a very optimistic, kind person, who always brought my spirits up,” Gallab said.
“He was the kind of guy who would treat you well, even if you wronged him,” said Ramy Assal, employee in a telecommunications company .
A newlywed couple, who knew Fakhry for around eight years, cut their honeymoon short to attend the vigil.
“He was a great friend,” recruitment specialist Olivia Emil said crying.
“He is in a better place now in heaven,” she said. “We are the ones who are grieving his loss.”
