The controversy surrounding the 28-year-old Khaled Said's death continues, reports Mohamed El-Sayed The truth behind the death of Khaled Said, aka "the Martyr of Emergency Law", whom it is alleged was beaten to death by plainclothes policemen in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria on 6 June, remains contested. The case took a new turn when the three- member forensic team assigned by the prosecutor-general to conduct a new autopsy on Said's body last week confirmed in its report that "Said's death was a result of asphyxiation after swallowing a packet of narcotics". The report added that, "there were bruises and injuries due to collision with a rough surface, the result of resisting the police, but the injuries were not the cause of his death," the report stated. It also said that traces of another drug were found in Said's stomach. The report added that the photo of Said circulated on the Internet was taken at the morgue following the first autopsy, hence the facial distortion apparent in the photo. "Now we must add the name of the head of the forensic team to the list of people accused of killing Khaled," Islam El-Qobaisi, Said's family's lawyer, told reporters following the announcement of the report. "The report should have shown whether the injuries to Khaled's body were due to violence inflicted by police officers. All this report proves is that its authors were happy to quote the police's own report into the case." "Investigations into the case are ongoing. We must ask why the prosecution has yet to apprehend the two policemen who tortured Khaled," El-Qobaisi added. The Alexandria Appeals Prosecution has been interrogating eyewitnesses who say Said was beaten to death by the two undercover policemen. Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of Sidi Gaber Mosque on Friday to show their solidarity with Said's family. The demonstration came in response to a call by opposition movements and Internet activists to protest against the state of emergency imposed in Egypt. Former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed El-Baradei, and other opposition leaders led the demonstrators. Surrounded by hundreds of his supporters, El-Baradei offered his condolences to Said's family before attending the Friday sermon at Sidi Gaber Mosque. In the evening El-Baradei participated in a vigil at Stanley Bridge on Alexandria's Corniche. "The vigil was meant to be a loud cry in the face of the regime: people will no longer tolerate torture," said El-Baradei. Surrounded by thousands of riot police, demonstrators raised banners accusing the Ministry of Interior of "torturing Khaled to death". One banner read "one nation against the Emergency Law... one nation against torture", another "we no longer fear the Ministry of Interior". Meanwhile, several other vigils were held on the same Friday evening in the governorates of Sharqiya, Daqahliya, Ismailia, Port Said, Damietta, Assiut and Menoufiya. They came in response to a call initiated by the "My Name is Khaled Said" group on the social networking site Facebook. Said's case continued to gain momentum internationally, as international human rights organisations called for the detention of the two policemen alleged to have beaten up Said to his death. "Egyptian authorities should speedily investigate and bring charges against two plainclothes policemen who numerous witnesses say beat to death 28-year-old Khaled Said in Alexandria on 6 June 2010," Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week said in a statement. "Authorities should also investigate their superiors, as well as the local prosecutor whose first investigation failed to properly gather evidence or interview witnesses," it added. "Witness accounts and the photographs of Khaled Said's mangled face constitute strong evidence that plainclothes security officers beat him in a vicious and public manner," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. HRW also issued a statement condemning the treatment of those who have demonstrated over the past two weeks in solidarity with Said by the security forces. "This cycle of security officials beating peaceful demonstrators, holding them for hours or days, and then finally releasing them without charge needs to stop," said Stork. "Security officials need to learn how to do their jobs without gratuitous violence that amounts to extrajudicial punishment." The European Union added to international pressure on Egypt over the incident, issuing a statement on Monday saying that heads of mission in Cairo were "concerned about the circumstances" of Said's death and the fact that eyewitness accounts and family statements contradict the findings of the second government autopsy. They welcomed the decision to hold a judicial inquiry, and hoped that it would be conducted "impartially, transparently and swiftly".
