The main witness in a torture case was beaten by police forces on Saturday in the northern coastal city of Rashid (Rosetta), ahead of a testimony on 4 August.
Early on Saturday, police officer Mohamed Abo Yadak, and several police informers, severely beat Mahmoud Hassan Naga, and dragged him to the police station, according to Al-Haqanya rights organisation. Naga had been a witness in the case of El-Sayed Al-Kosbary’s torture.Naga lost consciousness and was transported to hospital. The general prosecution was informed of the incident, but could not gain Naga’s testimony on what occurred on Saturday as he had yet to recover.
Mohamed Abdelaziz, the Al-Kosbary family’s lawyer in the torture case, told Daily News Egypt that Naga is the case’s main witness, while the police officer was accused but was not referred to trial.
Abdelaziz added that the police officer had previously threatened Naga to force him into not testifying against the police officer and policemen charged in the Al-Kosbary case.
At the beginning of May, Al-Kosbary was arrested by security forces from his workplace in Rashid, without being informed of his charges. He was severely beaten and dragged on the ground in the process, then taken to Rashid police station, where he was accused of possessing a firearm, and charged with resisting authorities, along with his relatives.
Al-Kosbary, 32, did not receive medical treatment until late into the night, when he was taken to Rashid Hospital, which stated the injuries inflicted on him were by the police forces. The following morning, he was shown before the general prosecution, where he accused the police force of beating him, and requested that the Forensic Medicine Authority inspect his injuries.
The prosecution did not respond to his request, and neither did it investigate the security force, with Al-Kosbary instead taken back to the police station.
From 3 to 5 May, Al-Kosbary was allegedly subject to another round of beatings and torture until he eventually collapsed and was transported to the hospital on 5 May, but died on the way.
Four days after the initial request to show the “injured” Al-Kosbary before the Forensic Medicine Authority, the prosecution ordered that Al-Kosbary’s corpse be shown before the authority.
A police officer and two policemen were detained pending investigations before being referred to criminal court with the charge of “beating that led to death”. The first trial session will be held on 4 August.
