The police forcibly broke up a protest in the form of a collective Ramadan iftar organized by 400 activists in Alexandria on Friday in front of the home of alleged police torture victim Khaled Saeed. Saeed is believed to have been beaten to death at the hands of police officers last June.
Eye witnesses and activists involved in the protests told Al-Masry Al-Youm that security forces began to beat the protesters after they chanted slogans against Gamal Mubarak, Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Party and the current President’s son, and Habib al-Adly, the Minister of the Interior.
One of the activists said the protesters performed a satirical role-play about the killing of Saeed, which ended with the perpetrators being indicted, and the protesters calling for their punishment.
The activists also claimed that security men harassed some of the girls participating in the protest. Al-Masry Al-Youm could not however get confirmation of this accusation from independent sources.
According to eye witnesses, security forces encircled Saeed’s home, closed the cafés and shops in the area, and cut the power supply to the area to force the activists to end their protest.
In related news, on 25 September the trial of the two police officers implicated in the killing of Saeed will resume at an Alexandria court.
Saeed’s family accuses the police of beating Saeed, 28, to death after arresting him at an internet café close to his home.
