Judge Mohamed Shawky, who was delegated by the justice minister to investigate the damage and destruction of state security documents, decided to detain Major General Hassan Abdel Rahman, former head of the State Security Intelligence Services (SSIS) for 15 days pending investigations.
The judge accused Abdel Rhaman of damaging state security documents based on former Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy’s accusation.
In March 2011, hundreds of civilians stormed the SSIS facilities in Cairo and other governorates following reports that its officers had been destroying documents believed to provide evidence of corruption and abuse.
Some seized a number of documents and handed them over to investigators. The military confiscated all the documents handed over, and still have them in their possession.
Authorities, meanwhile, have been investigating the involvement of some SSIS officers in the destruction of the documents. The investigators will also verify whether the documents prove any violations by the disbanded agency.
The SSIS, which had been Egypt’s much-feared and hated security agency, was used by the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak to suppress political activism. The agency was accused of torturing political detainees.
Egypt’s former Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy disbanded the agency in March 2011 and replaced it with the National Security Agency. Many critics, however, believe that reform of the agency was more cosmetic than actual.
Edited translation from MENA
