- EGYPT
- October 26, 2011
- 2 minutes read
Abu Baraka: Outlawed National Democractic Party Blocked Anti-Torture Laws in Parliament
Dr. Ahmed Abu Baraka, the Freedom and Justice Party’s legal adviser, expressed regret at the sentence passed by the Alexandria Criminal Court – headed by Justice Moussa al-Nahrawy – today Wednesday 26, sentencing two police officers to 7 years for torturing and killing Khaled Said, whose death galvanized anger towards Mubarak’s regime.
In a statement to IkhwanWeb, Dr. Abu Baraka blamed the sentence on faults within the Egyptian law and the legislative system, since torture in Egypt has not been criminalised so it would receive tough penalties.
He pointed out that in 2005 and 2010 parliamentary sessions, the Muslim Brotherhood proposed legislation to toughen penalties for torture crimes in order to achieve justice and respect for human rights. However, the dissolved National party aborted these anti-Torture bills in parliament.
He mentioned that he expected the next parliament to toughen torture sentences so perpetrators would not get off lightly.
Abu Baraka stressed that there is but one way now to go: the Egyptian Public Prosecutor must appeal against the court ruling and orders a re-trial of Khaled Said’s murderers.