The Western Cairo Prosecution ordered Sunday the detention of a police officer and four non-commissioned officers on charges of torturing a street vendor, named Magdy Makeen, to death. They are charged with beating Makeen to death, causing the injuries mentioned in the forensics report. During the investigations, the officers denied the charges, according to state media. They will be called for questioning by the prosecution on Thursday. The report's results coincided with the narrative of Makeen's colleagues who testified that he was beaten and killed by the officers. Meanwhile, six other officers were acquitted and released. Makeen was allegedly tortured by about 10 police officers in the station after he was arrested on 13 November, while driving a cart with two of his friends. His family found out about his death on 14 November and decided to transfer the body to Al-Zaytoun hospital, where they found signs of assault and torture on his body. Previously, Interior Ministry officials gave different and contradictory narratives about the incident, including that Makeen fainted in the police station and died while he was being transferred to the hospital. Another narrative stated that he died when he crashed his cart while he was being chased by the police. It was also claimed that Makeen was in possession of narcotics. Since the beginning of 2016, there has been a string of cases of police abuse directed against civilians. Cases of death in detention are handled in secrecy by security forces and the prosecution. The ministry does not release public statements about such violations, and if it does, it denies them.
