Ahmed Shafiq, who lost in presidential runoffs against Mohamed Morsy last year, has said that the dragging of Hamada Saber outside the presidential palace on Friday was planned by the Interior Ministry to terrorize people, which would lead to more violence and hatred towards the regime.
Speaking to Al Arabiya Saudi satellite channel Sunday, Shafiq said the regime wants to tell people, "Beware, young men and women, for what happens to the dragged citizen might happen to you."
Video footage showed that security forces dragged Saber, 48, through the streets, stripped him naked and beat him with batons before forcing him into an armored vehicle.
“The regime is over,” Shafiq said. “It will not get away with rigging the presidential elections because they have messed with the wrong person."
Shafiq said that under former President Hosni Mubarak, he had been against excluding the Muslim Brotherhood from the Parliament, and considered their participation a "positive thing." He had not articulated these views at the time.
