Villagers Call On Prosecutor General To Release Their Detainees

Villagers Call On Prosecutor General To Release Their Detainees

Scores of the inhabitants of Samallut village (at the governorate of Miniya) and April 6 Youth movement demonstrated last Saturday before the Prosecutor General’s Office downtown Cairo against the arrest of tens of their relatives.


The villagers were detained after clashes between the civilians and security forces due to the murder of a pregnant lady called Mervat Abdul-Fattah at the hands of a police officer.


The people as well as several activists and lawyers topped by Mr. Ahmad Saif Al-Islam and Mohamed Abdul-Quddos filed a complaint to the Prosecutor General calling for the swift probes into the case and release of the detainees.


“The number of imprisoned villagers pending investigations is 12, three at Burg Al-Arab Prison, as well as two escapees,” said Malik Mustafa; lawyer at Hisham Mubarak Law Center, indicating that lawyers managed to release three juveniles.


Lawyer Ahmad Saif Al-Islam, director of Hisham Mubarak Law Center, asserted “the Assistant Prosecutor General emphasized that he called the senior attorney of North Upper Egypt prosecutions to accelerate the medical examination on the death of Mervat Abdul-Fattah, hearing the witnesses of prosecution, and enabling advocates from seeing the investigation briefs.”


Demonstrators raised the convicted officer’s image labeled with “WANTED” while repeating denunciation words.


After filing the complaint to the prosecutor general, demonstrators moved to the Journalists’ Syndicate to organize a press conference for the detainees’ relatives. The press conference began with presenting a documentary film comprising Mervat’s relatives narrating the murder incident.


“I heard Mervat in the last breath saying “They killed me, they killed me”,” said Mervat’s sister-in-law.


Mervat’s son said that the officer beat the mother on her abdomen and head before throwing her off the stairs.


The filmed report prepared by Hisham Mubarak Law Center and Nadeem Rehabilitation Center presented photos for Samallut detainees’ relatives amidst grieving atmosphere.


Saif Al-Islam pledged to retain Mervat’s rights and that the case would be examined before the African Committee for Human Rights after pursuing all local legal procedures.


“How the regime would see such an absurd lieutenant who killed the lady with her embryo and led to this miserable status of her four children and escape of her husband for fear of the police persecution,” inquired Malik Mustafa stating that there are 20 detainees with no crime; they have nothing to do with politics, they are mere neighbors and relatives of the murdered Mervat. He inquired if those detainees are against Egypt’s national security.