Egyptian policeman sentenced to death for killing protesters

Reporting and discussing local, national and international news items.

Moderators: DJKeefy, 4u Network

Post Reply
User avatar
DJKeefy
Site Administrator
Site Administrator
Posts: 1354
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: Luxor (Egypt)
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 69 times
Gender:
Contact:
Egypt

Egyptian policeman sentenced to death for killing protesters

Post by DJKeefy »

The first Egyptian police officer sentenced to death for killing protesters during the January revolution remained at large Monday as the country braced for a summer of trials on the police brutality that defined President Hosni Mubarak's regime.


Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Monem was sentenced in absentia late Sunday for the Jan. 28 shooting deaths of 23 protesters rioting outside a Cairo police station. The court's ruling was quickly affirmed by the nation's top Islamic cleric, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, who reviews all death-penalty cases.

Abdul Monem told Egyptian TV over the weekend that he had killed no one while following orders to protect the police station. He said he would seek a new trial and accused the Interior Ministry of not standing by him. He has yet to explain why he hadn't appeared in court or why authorities hadn't apprehended him.

"The Interior Ministry abandoned my case," said Abdul Monem, who contended that he only fired into the ground in an attempt to disperse an angry mob at the police station. "The ministry didn't even assign lawyers to defend me."

The verdict against Abdul Monem came as families of protesters killed during the 18-day revolt hurled rocks at police and military vehicles after the trial against former Interior Minister Habib Adli was adjourned Sunday for a second time. Adli faces capital punishment on charges he ordered state security forces to violently crush an uprising, which led to the deaths of more than 800 protesters.

But the most anticipated case is the trial of Mubarak, set for August. The ousted Egyptian president is accused of financial crimes and of having a hand in the deaths of protesters. He could face the death sentence, and his fate is a crucial test of the ruling military council's ability to balance justice and the demands for blood from many Egyptians who suffered under Mubarak's government.

Though the country's economy is ailing, and confusion and worry linger over upcoming parliamentary elections and the writing of a new constitution, many Egyptians believe the country cannot move forward until the sins of the past are punished. They fear that Mubarak, who has been in a hospital since April with apparent heart problems, will maneuver to escape his day in court.

"Abdul Monem is just a street cop. Where are the superiors and the higher-ranked police officers?" said Mohamed Sayed, whose brother was killed in the protests. "Why aren't any of them convicted yet despite the fact that many of them have been on trial for months now? People like Habib Adli and others get their trials continuously adjourned."

Former top officials, including Trade Minister Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and Adli, have been found guilty of corruption and abuse of power and sentenced to prison. Their trials offered a glimpse into the entrenched world of businesspeople and government officials who ran the country for personal benefit, even as more than 40% of the population lived on $2 or less a day.

But the death sentence against Abdul Monem is dramatic for an Egypt attempting to reconcile its past as it struggles toward a democratic future. Cases of police brutality seldom reached the courtrooms in Mubarak's repressive state; security forces brazenly roamed the country, torturing and demanding bribes. That an officer has been sentenced to death further breaks down the psychological barrier that had helped keep the former president in power.

Abdul Monem was assigned to Cairo's Zawiya Hamra police station, notorious for corruption and abuse. On Jan. 28, three days after the revolt began, protesters, some of them armed, descended on the building as they vented years of rage. In his TV interview, Abdul Monem said that he was inside when a commander told officers and police officers to fire their weapons to protect the building.

The attackers "set fire to all our vehicles and a street cop was shot and died on the spot, and three other street cops, including myself, were injured," he said. "I did not see one protester fall as I fired shots into the ground."

But prosecutors said Abdul Monem fired indiscriminately, killing 23 and wounding 16 others.


Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9799.story


Image
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Post by Horus »

Mmm, he seems to be saying that the old regime has deserted him and hung him out to dry. No doubt like the rest of the old police authorities they are lying low so as not to attract any attention to themselves, this no doubt explains the lack of police on the countries streets.
Image
User avatar
Christine
Top Member
Top Member
Posts: 558
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: england
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Christine »

In my mind Abdul Monem is a scarifice/peace offering to a growing number of very angry people , so yes as it says its a very "dramatic" sentance .
You get out of life what you are prepared to put in!
User avatar
Winged Isis
Top Member
Top Member
Posts: 561
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 2 times
Australia

Post by Winged Isis »

Christine wrote:In my mind Abdul Monem is a scarifice/peace offering to a growing number of very angry people , so yes as it says its a very "dramatic" sentance .
Every revolution has its "sacrificial goats" in the aftermath.
User avatar
Christine
Top Member
Top Member
Posts: 558
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: england
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Christine »

Yes they do and he is one of them ;)
You get out of life what you are prepared to put in!
User avatar
Winged Isis
Top Member
Top Member
Posts: 561
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 2 times
Australia

Post by Winged Isis »

Possibly. As I don't know all the evidence, I couldn't possibly comment. Hopefully due process will give a just result: the perfect start the new Egypt needs. :)
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

In any form of corruption there is a hierarchy. One level cannot be corrupt and everybody else squeaky clean. Just can't happen. I think that corruption is so entrenched and so ingrained into so many aspects of Egypt life it is going to be extremely difficult to sort out where it starts and were it ends.

I do believe this man is being held out as an appeasement to the masses. I hope they look beyond the end of their noses cause the entire system needs an overhaul.

In many ways I'm not sure that Egypt alone is a pinnacle of corruption. I actually think that for numerous reasons i.e. tribal based lifestyle complete with warlords, belief systems (eye for an eye) and abject poverty where on a daily basis people are forced to live by all their wits using every bit of cunning and bit of advantage they can take that all of this has combined to create the state they are in today.

Anytime law derives from the sheer power of a few who through brute force, brutality, bribery, coercion etc make the rules they're also apt to maintain their position through corruption. Power does go to the head and in order to maintain it they resort to any means possible.

Where does corruption start in the Egypt scenerio? Where does it end? Can it ever end?

I'm thinking it is pervasive and in order to make it stop radical change will have to happen and even if it can happen it also has to be maintained.
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I forgot to add this tidbit to my last post and I actually feel on E4U I shouldn't have to say this - (but cause of my experiences on the OTHER side) - I'm going to say this (just in case anybody else feels the need to immediately post it)......I AM NOT NOT NOT, Never Have Been in Islamophobe or in anyway feel "ANTI" Islam or Muslims!!!!

I've been there, read copious books, researched this topic.....blah blah blah.......am posting my 'views' as openly, as compassionately, as informatively, as I can........just how I see the situation! :):):)
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Post by Horus »

Hopefully on this side at least we will not be shouting people down just because they hold a different view to our own. As long as people make reasoned posts and are balanced in what they say then there is no problem, neither will there be calls for members to be banned or topics locked just because they conflict with others. That is the role of the moderators to decide and even that should not be based upon their own personally held views, but upon what is deemed acceptible forum behaviour, or an acceptible topic to post and that may vary due to certain conditions prevailing at the time, or even upon how the thread may be degenerating. However, small as we are, to date this side has kept up a reasonably tollerant attitude towards other posters and hopefully that will continue. :D
Image
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post