A Cairo prosecution office on Monday referred two policemen to criminal court over the death of Mohamed Abdel-Hakim, nicknamed Afroto, while in custody at Cairo's Moqattam district police station earlier this month. The prosecution charged the policemen with beating that resulted in the death of Afroto. The decision came as a result of an investigation during which the prosecution summoned other individuals who were arrested with Afroto, as well as the security forces present at the time of the incident. The prosecution is awaiting Afroto's forensic autopsy and CCTV footage of the investigation unit inside the Moqattam police station. The 22-year old Afroto was arrested on Friday, 5 January on charges of drug dealing and taken to a police station in Cairo's Moqattam district, where he later died. Clashes erupted between protesters and police on Saturday when news of the detainee's death spread. Protesters set fire to tyres and vehicles near the police station and police fired teargas and birdshot. Several unnamed security sources were quoted by local media as saying that Afroto died of a drug overdose. However, a post-mortem report said the death was caused by "severe laceration of the spleen and abdominal bleeding." Egypt's Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar ordered the ministry's department of inspection to launch a probe into the incident. On Monday 8 January, a Cairo prosecution office ordered the detention of the police officer and low-ranking policeman over the death. Prosecutors have also ordered the four-day detention of 43 people arrested on charges of storming the police station during Saturday's clashes.
