300 Lawyers Sit-in Against Assaulting a Colleague

Nearly 300 lawyers organized a sit-in Tuesday before Hadayeq Al-Qubba’s police station after police officers violently assaulted lawyer Magdy Taha. They caused him a serious injury on his face and kept him in custody, Ikhwanweb reporters said.

Taha used to go to the police station to perform legal procedures for his clients; however the officer dealt with him stubbornly and inflexibly which led to heated arguments between them. The officer then severely jailed and assaulted the lawyer.

As a defense measure, officers at the police station accused the sit-in organizers of assaulting the police officer. Therefore, both the charged officer and lawyers, including Tareq Al-Awadi member of Freedoms Committee at the Bar Association, have been referred to the prosecution for investigations.

In a statement to Ikhwanweb, Khaled Ali, a lawyer and activist at Hisham Mubarak’s Center, called for severe punishment of the assaulting officer and described the fabrication of a counter charge against lawyers as a blatant violation of law to screen the torture practices.

“Police should have investigated the assaulting officer who has severely injured the lawyer instead of garnering the support of high ranking officers against the prejudiced lawyers” Khaled Ali said.

Law stipulates that a lawyer should not be jailed or arrested for performing his legal profession. If happened, a brief should be recorded and referred to the General Prosecution, Bar Association, and Prosecutor General to take the necessary procedures.