And the victim this time was a cart driver !!

It seems that we are having some sort of news that became a norm , a daily routine that unfortunately does not shock anybody anymore.
News like terrorist attacks in North Sinai and road accidents have become a norm. Unfortunately, the police brutality has become a norm that the news that a person was tortured till death in a police station does not shock people anymore.
Earlier this week , another torture till death case took place in a police station and it did not catch the attention except few journalists.
Then the media began to highlight it on Wednesday only as social media users began to speak about it.
For the record, both Al-bediaih and United Copts news websites were the first to speak about the matter from mainstream media.
This time , it was a poor cart driver who used to transfer and sell fish in Al-Amiriyah working class area, Cairo.

Late Magdy Makeen

Late Sunday , 52-years old Magdy Makeen was arrested and reportedly taken to Al-Amiryah police station. Next day , his family was called to take his dead body from Zaiton general hospital.
Later , the body was transferred to Zainhom morgue where the family found outrageous traces of torture.

Makeen was working a cart driver , yes a cart driver selling fish.
This means we are speaking about a poor man who comes from a very poor working class.
On Monday and Tuesday , the media whether mainstream or social media did not pay attention to the news till a video released by Makeen's family showing his body in morgue hit the internet and went viral.
The short video is extremely graphic. "+18"
The family says that according to eye witnesses  the whole thing started when 52-years old Makeen told a police officer from Al-Amiriyah police station not to insult his mother during a verbal argument.
The verbal argument started when the cart dragged by a horse hit the police car according to eye-witnesses who spoke to the Makeens.
Makeen was then arrested and taken by the orders of that police officer , allegedly police Capitan Karim Magdy to Al-Amiriyah police station where he was tortured till death.

An unnamed source in the police station denied this the family's accusation claiming in the media that the father of two was arrested of "narcotic pills" and that he died because of diabetic seizure as well low blood pressure.

Then on Wednesday , I read a statement issued by the interior ministry that Makeen and two other men were arrested late Saturday for the possession of 2000 "tramadol" pills and that he died because of low blood pressure.

On Wednesday , the General prosecution issued a statement claiming that initial investigation reached out that Magdy Makeen died when his cart crashed as he was chased by the police !!
The initial statement of prosecution also added Makeen and two other men tried to escape the police using a cart "yes , dragged by animal" because they had about 200 "narcotic pills". The two other men are currently detained pending investigation.

The prosecution says that the two men confirmed its version of the story while the family says the opposite that he was tortured in front of their eyes.

As you can see we got three different versions of the story of what truly happened to Magdy Makeen.
I believe the family's version that he died due to torture thanks to the horrifying video and the long past record of police

Unfortunately ,many Egyptians would not have believed that Magdy Makeen was the victim of torture and police brutality if it were not for the video.
You must understand for Egyptians whether Muslims and Christians respect the privacy of the deceased people. So to expose their bodies like that in front of the camera means a lot and shows how much they are desperate to prove their rights.

On Friday , the minister of interior opened an internal investigation into the incident.
There is news that suspect police captain Karim Magdy was suspended from work but Masraway news website denies this according to security sources.
The prosecution questioned Magdy earlier this week and released him pending investigation according to news reports.

Makeen's case reminds me with lots of other torture cases including Khaled Said's case as well Siyad Bilal and Talaat El-Shabeeb from a year ago.
The same everything when it comes to the details , only the names and locations as well the victims' backgrounds are different.
Pro-regime media news websites began to publish reports about the criminal record of Makeen and his family as usual and expected.

This time the victim is a Christian man from a poor working class in Cairo, not an Alexandrian Salafist or papyrus seller in Upper Egypt.
Magdy Makeen is the first Christian to be a victim of police brutality from a long time.
Many are wondering if the Coptic Orthodox is going to interfere or not.
I think it should not interfere because it is a case of an Egyptian citizen before anything and this is not a sectarian problem.
Anyhow , on Friday a group of priests led by outspoken by the head of Minya Diocese Anba Macrious visited the Makeens.

In his official statement , Anba Macrious interestingly hoped this incident would lead to a "revision" to what happens from "torture in police station"
Hours following this statement, the official Orthodox Church spokesperson issued another statement denying that the Church or the Pope spoke about recent "events" asserting that "law is the best way to face issues and fix problems".

This is not a sectarian matter, this is a pure Egyptian matter when it comes to police brutality and torture.
This happens in Cairo when Tunis is witnessing a truly historical thing as victims of torture and abuse speak on TV about their ordeal as part of the reconciliation movement in Tunisia.
I can not imagine something like that happening in Egypt anytime soon.
May God bless and protect Tunisia.