The Hesham Mubarak Law Centre’s (HMLC) emergency room reviewed two cases where protesters disappeared during clashes in Cairo only to be later found in governmental hospitals.
Amr Imam, lawyer at the HMLC, stated that Omar Mahmoud was found in Al-Helal Hospital four days after his disappearance. He was admitted into the hospital under the name ‘anonymous’.
“He disappeared on 27 January night from Qasr Al-Nil Bridge,” Imam said. “His friends saw him get shot at with birdshot before he disappeared.”
He added that the centre and Mahmoud’s friends and family searched for him extensively but to no avail. Witnesses told them they had seen Mahmoud in Qasr Al-Nil police station, but the police station denied that.
Mahmoud was suffering from a wound on the left side of his head, sustained from a birdshot, Imam said. The HMLC filed a report to the prosecutor general on Tuesday holding the Ministry of Interior and the Central Security Forces leader responsible for Mahmoud’s injury and demanding an investigation into the incident.
Mustafa Al-Sayed also disappeared after being wounded in the right eye by birdshot during the presidential palace clashes on Friday, Imam stated. He was found the following day in Al-Demerdash Hospital, also admitted under the name ‘anonymous’.
Al-Sayed claimed he was ‘kidnapped’, said Imam, stating that after being shot during the clashes by security forces, he was dragged to an unknown location. Al-Sayed claimed he was kept there for hours.
Al-Sayed also claimed his captors forced him to stamp his fingerprints on documents he could not identify.
Imam said the condition of Al-Sayed’s injured eye was critical; he’s likely to lose eyesight. His sister filed a report regarding the incident at the Heliopolis Misdemeanor Court on Monday.
“We’re holding both the Ministry of Health as well as the Ministry of Interior responsible for such incidents,” Imam said. He stated that the Ministry of Health’s complicity in those incidents is what leads to the final outcome.
Al-Dostour Party and Popular Current member Mohamed Al-Gendy also disappeared on Qasr Al-Nil Bridge on 27 January and was found at Al-Helal hospital on Thursday in a coma. He died on Monday. Claims that he died in a car accident were refuted by the prosecution, state-run Al-Ahram reported. Al-Dostour party claimed signs of brutal torture were found on his body.
Additional reporting by Hend Kortam
