The General Prosecution summoned on Wednesday nine police officers for interrogation over their alleged physical assault on doctors at Cairo’s Matariya Teaching Hospital, an incident which sparked calls for strike by the doctor community.
The Doctors' Syndicate is gearing up for a meeting on Friday to discuss means of escalation in response to a number of recent incidents where Interior Ministry personnel allegedly assaulted doctors on duty.
A wounded police agent from Matariya Police Department was reportedly angered when doctors at the hospital told him his injury was “superficial”, which he interpreted as a lack of care for his condition, hence the alleged assault. The incident prompted a strike by doctors at the hospital, which was vehemently backed by the syndicate.
In a separate incident, doctors at Banha University Hospital also suspended work after a man who claimed to be a police officer beat doctors for not giving enough attention to his sick wife.
The Interior Ministry initially denied the occurrences before backtracking later and vowing to hold the perpetrators responsible.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
