Al-Marg police officer accused of harassment released

Woman and her husband said they were unable to attend investigation due to receiving threats from other police officers

Egyptian police released Tuesday a police officer who was accused of assaulting and harassing a woman on Monday in front of Al-Marg metro station.
Ministry of Interior spokesperson Abo Bakr Abdel Kareem explained in televised phone interview on Al-Manchette programme that police summoned the accused officer and referred him to the general prosecution for investigation. However when the woman, Ghada Hussein, made the claims and her husband did not attend, the police decided to release him.
An officer in the ministry media office refused to comment about the case to Daily News Egypt.
Following the spokesperson's phone call, Hussien and her husband spoke again to Al-Manchette and noted they were not able to attend the investigation due to receiving several calls from private numbers threatening them to drop the harassment report and to stop talking to media about the case, otherwise they will be arrested again.
The husband said they are afraid to leave their house in fear of being arrested or killed. Despite the threats, both confirmed that an inspector from the ministry called them to investigate the case.
After their initial complaint, a group of police officers came to their house, arrested Hussein's husband, and threatened to bring charges of drug possession against him. Regarding the threats, Abdul Kareem told Hussein's husband, "let me reassure you, no one can threaten you".
According to Hussien and her husband, the police officer assaulted and harassed her after she refused to go with him to his home in exchange for money. Following the incident, Hussein's husband immediately went to Al-Marg police station but the officers there refused to receive his complaint against the police officer. He went on to file two complaints, one to the Ministry of Interior and the other in the Fifth Settlement police station.