The Cairo-based Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture has accused two police officers from the Beni Abid Police Department of torturing a Mansoura man before throwing him from the fourth floor of a police station. Police sources denied the accusations, saying the alleged victim, 18-year-old Mohamed Salah Mahmoud, had thrown himself from the fourth floor of the station in an attempt to escape after being arrested for not having the proper license for his Tok-Tok, a small motorized cart that is a transportation mainstay in many low-income Egyptian neighborhoods. In a statement issued Saturday, The Nadim Center noted that Mahmoud, who made his living as a Tok-Tok driver, had picked up the two officers from the Beni Abid police station. The latter then arrested him and took him to the station, where they began to beat and torture him before throwing him from the balcony, according to the statement. A police department source stated that the arrest had been part of a campaign against unregistered Tok-Toks and unlicensed Tok-Tok drivers, of which Mahmoud had been guilty on both counts. While waiting for police to finish their report on the incident, Mahmoud requested access to the bathroom, shortly after which the source claimed he heard a loud thud and discovered that Mahmoud had jumped from the fourth-floor bathroom window of the station. The source went on to state that officers from Beni Abid had informed the station chief of what had happened, who then ordered them to prepare a report on the incident and notify the district attorney's office. The Nadim Center stated that Mahmoud was then transported the El-Salam Hospital in Mansoura. According to the hospital's preliminary report, Mahmoud suffered from internal bleeding and a brain concussion, in addition to fractures to his knee, leg, pelvis, arm and skull. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
