EGYPT'S interior minister vowed on Saturday to investigate the beating of a naked man by riot police that threatened to further inflame popular anger against security forces, but suggested that initial results absolve the police of direct abuse.
The beating was caught on camera by Associated Press and the video was broadcast live on Egyptian television late Friday as protests raged in the streets outside the presidential palace.
TheAP video showed police trying to bundle the naked man into a police van after beating him. Less than 24 hours after the incident several thousand anti-government demonstrators marched again to the palace the following day denouncing the police and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after a week of violent protests that claimed more than 60 lives nationwide.
Speaking to reporters, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said that initial results from the public prosecutor's investigation show that 48-year-old Hamada Saber was undressed by "rioters" during skirmishes between police and protesters. He was then hit in the foot by a bird shot, the interior minister said, stopping short of saying if the injury was a result of police firing into the crowds.
"The central security forces then found him lying on the ground and tried to put him in an armoured vehicle, though the way in which they did that was excessive," said Ibrahim.
In the AP footage from Friday at least seven black-clad riot police beat Saber, whose pants are down around his ankles, with sticks before dragging him along the muddy pavement and tossing him into a police van.
The beating happened as thousands of protesters chanted against Morsi, throwing firebombs and firing flares at the presidential palace as police pumped volleys of tear gas and bird shot into the crowd, killing one protester and wounding more than 90. - Sapa
Investigation into beating of naked protester
EGYPT'S interior minister vowed on Saturday to investigate the beating of a naked man by riot police that threatened to further inflame popular anger against security forces, but suggested that initial results absolve the police of direct abuse.
The beating was caught on camera by Associated Press and the video was broadcast live on Egyptian television late Friday as protests raged in the streets outside the presidential palace.
TheAP video showed police trying to bundle the naked man into a police van after beating him. Less than 24 hours after the incident several thousand anti-government demonstrators marched again to the palace the following day denouncing the police and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after a week of violent protests that claimed more than 60 lives nationwide.
Speaking to reporters, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said that initial results from the public prosecutor's investigation show that 48-year-old Hamada Saber was undressed by "rioters" during skirmishes between police and protesters. He was then hit in the foot by a bird shot, the interior minister said, stopping short of saying if the injury was a result of police firing into the crowds.
"The central security forces then found him lying on the ground and tried to put him in an armoured vehicle, though the way in which they did that was excessive," said Ibrahim.
In the AP footage from Friday at least seven black-clad riot police beat Saber, whose pants are down around his ankles, with sticks before dragging him along the muddy pavement and tossing him into a police van.
The beating happened as thousands of protesters chanted against Morsi, throwing firebombs and firing flares at the presidential palace as police pumped volleys of tear gas and bird shot into the crowd, killing one protester and wounding more than 90. - Sapa
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos