Egypt's ruling military council has not asked families of protesters killed in the revolution to give up charges against officers accused of murdering their relatives, a military source said. The source denied reports that a military commander in Alexandria asked Yasser Borhamy, a Salafi preacher, to convince victims' families to accept compensation for their relatives' deaths and change their accounts of what happened in order to acquit the officers. The source, who asked to remain anonymous, dismissed the reports in a phone call on Monday with ONTV, a private satellite channel. Yasser Abdel Atty, whose brother Saber was killed during the revolution, said his family has been under pressure to give up the charges and exonerate officers accused by prosecutors of murdering protesters during the revolution. Nine families had already rescinded their accusations, he said, and redirected charges against the former government and ex-interior minister. Abdel Atty also said the family of Mohamed Mostafa, another victim killed in the revolution, had been facing intimidation by thugs linked to the officer accused of murdering him. The Mostafas were attacked at home and threatened with fabricated charges to force them to acquit the officer, Abdel Atty said. The TV show received a phone call from Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, spokesperson for the Salafi movement in Alexandria. Shahat, said Salafis, used to interfere during the reign of the former regime to settle murder cases by convincing victims' families to accept compensation. He said the current criminal code is unfair because it denies justice to victims' families if murderers prove their crimes were not premeditated. More than 800 protesters were killed during the 25 January revolution. Former President Hosni Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly remain in police custody pending investigations into protester deaths. Translated from the Arabic Edition
