Nasr Abdulah Al Sayeedi was beaten to death by Egyptian police.  The police held Sayeedi in custody in hopes of luring Sayeedi’s brother to turn himself in for unspecified charges.

Sayeedi was apprehended while returning to his apartment.  Reportedly, he heard screams in his apartment.  Upon entering the apartment, he found the police assaulting his wife and four daughters, while his mother lay on the floor.  “The officers nor the soldiers had mercy in their hearts, they dragged [Sayeedi] onto the stairs in front of us, swearing and beating him furiously, until he was put in the police car,” the victim’s neighbor reported.  (AHN Media)  The officers continued attacking the man while dragging him to the police station.  Additionally, the police compounded the beatings by not trying to preserve Sayeedi’s life.  According to Sayeedi’s lawyer, “We went to the police station to ask about him and maybe bail him out, [but] the officers refused to tell us about his condition and when we found him laying unconscious under a table, the police officer refused to call an ambulance so we carried him out by force to the emergency room where the medics there told us he was suffering from internal bleeding in the brain and must be operated on immediately.”  (AHN Media)  Sayeedi died the next day. 

Al Masry Al Youm newspaper reported that the death has caused an uprising in Sayeedi’s town.  In response to the police brutality, the townspeople attacked the police station.  They threw stones damaging the station by breaking windows.  The police have arrested 70 protestors.  The police controlled the townspeople through sending hundreds of soldiers, armored cars and security trucks to monitor the town.   

This is the most recent report of police brutality in Egypt.  The Taipei Times reported a police investigation regarding claims that a man was set on fire by police to obtain a confession.  Also, a police official is being tried for being videotaped using a stick to sodomize a bus driver.  The police’s surveillance and arresting power has been expanded since the constitutional amendments responding to terrorist fears.  This expansive police power has been compounded by the constitutional weakening of the judicial branch, allowing more unchecked abusive behavior.

 

Gulf News.  Egyptian police beat man to death.  3 August 2007.

AHN.  Man beaten to death by Egyptian Police again.  3 August 2007.

Taipei Times.  Egyptian soldiers beat refugees to death in front of Israelis at border: TV station.  4 August 2007.