CAIRO: The Giza Criminal Court adjourned the case of police officer Adel Al-Shahed, 23, for the murder of Tamer Mashour, 31, in Mohandiseen on Nov. 21 to April 26 where the Prosecutor and defense will make their closing statements before the verdict. The witness testimonials have all been heard and in the last session on Tuesday, the testimony of Al-Shahed's brother was heard as well as the testimony of the forensic doctor George Morkos. Ahmed, Al-Shahed's brother, told the court that he had entered into an altercation with Mashour's brother Ihab near the Shooting Club in Mohandiseen. He said that this was the beginning of the incident which led to Al-Shahed shooting Mashour. Morkos said that Mashour's death was a result of a gunshot wound to the stomach which caused severe hemorrhaging. He also said that the bullet was removed from Mashour's body by an unidentified person before it reached the forensic lab. He could not determine if it was removed by a trained surgeon. The relay of events that day by the defense and prosecution were similar up until the point of Mashour's death, where accounts diverge. Al-Shahed's lawyers argue that the shot was fired at close range as Mashour was descending upon Al-Shahed as the two were wrestling for the gun. Ihab Mashour, Tamer's brother, however says that Al-Shahed fired the shot from a distance.. "The forensic report stated that the shot was fired from a distance and at an angle which corroborates my version of events, he told Daily News Egypt. Al-Shahed admitted to the presiding judge that he had killed Mashour but said that it was in self defense. Magd Eldin Zaher, who was Al-Shahed's lawyer during the initial investigations but who is not his trial lawyer, alleges that Tamer came with a baseball bat with which he assaulted Al-Shahed and his brother. Ihab denied that Tamer was carrying a baseball bat or any other instrument that could be used as a weapon. The altercation moved to the corner of Al-Nargis Street in front of a building still under construction. Al-Shahed claims that Tamer was attacking him and his brother with the baseball bat. Al-Shahed tripped over a railing and fired a shot aimed at Tamer's legs, which missed him and hit another witness, Bassem El-Shuweihy, instead. Al-Shahed claims that after he fired the shot that hit El-Shuweihy, Tamer ran at him and proceeded to hit him with the alleged bat. It was then that Tamer took the bullet in the stomach that ended his life. After the closing statements in April, it is expected that the presiding judge will set another date for the verdict.
