Germany's ambassador to Egypt has backed protesters at Tahrir Square in their denunciations of the slow pace of trials for police officers accused of killing protesters and former officials of the Mubarak regime.
Thousands of Egyptians took part in massive protests on Friday in a number of governates. Among other demands, demonstrators called for faster prosecution of officials from the former ruling regime and the trying of police officers accused of murdering protesters during the 25 January revolution, which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
During a Saturday seminar on political changes in Egypt, organized by Goethe Institute in Cairo, Ambassador Michael Bock said that Egypt's judiciary should have taken stricter measures concerning crimes committed by the previous government.
Bock added that Egyptian authorities had asked his country to freeze the assets of 200 ex-officials at its banks, but said that later investigations discovered no bank accounts. He, however, reasserted Germany's readiness to cooperate with Egypt in that respect.
The ambassador denied earlier reports asserting that the German doctor, who conducted a surgery for former President Hosni Mubarak in 2010, had headed to Egypt to check on the health of the deposed president. Bock, however, said that Mubarak has the right to ask for a private German doctor if he pleases.
Commenting on the situation of police services in Egypt, Bock said that officers must be retrained, and noted that a number of Western states, including Germany, have offered Egypt assistance in restructuring their police services and await Cairo’s response.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
