Updates from Nasser Amin

I met Nasser Amin, Emad Kabeer‘s lawyer this afternoon.

Nasser said Emad was still detained in a General Giza Court cell. The standard procedure with defendants convicted in court, said Nasser, is to transfer the prisoner on the same day or the following to the police station where the prisoner’s ID is registered; and from there he/she would be transferred to a prison. In Emad’s case this means he should have been transferred earlier to Bulaq al-Dakrour Police Station–where he was sexually abused–and from there probably he would be taken to Wadi el-Natron or Tora prison. Delaying Emad’s transfer uptil now, Nasser was guessing, could mean the government might skip the Bulaq bus stop, and just ship him directly to a prison. Nasser was more worried, though, about Emad in prison than him being in Bulaq. He said Emad has become such a high profile prisoner that the police wouldn’t dare messing with him in a police station, from where news can travel out fast. In prison, however, news trickle out much slower. “They can lock him up with dangerous criminals who also liaise with security,” Nasser told me. “Mysterious accidents” could happen.

Amnesty International shares the same concerns as Nasser. The rights watchdog issued a statement yesterday expressing concerns about Emad’s safety in prison.

Amnesty International is calling on the Egyptian authorities to ensure the safety of torture victim Emad Muhammad Ali Muhammad, known as Emad al-Kabir, and his protection from further intimidation or reprisal while in prison. This is key to ensure justice is done during the trial on 3 March 2007 of two police officers charged with torturing him, including with rape, in January last year.

Regarding the video where a woman is being whipped by a plainclothes, Nasser had initial leads that pointed to the identity of the victim who was believed to be working at the State TV & Radio building. Unfortunately, the leads turned out to be false. The identity of the victim hasn’t been revealed yet.

As for Lieutenant Mustafa Shehata of El-Haram Police Station, who appeared in the infamous video slapping citizen Ahmad Gad on the face, Nasser said no trial date had been set yet, but Monsieur Shehata is now suspended from work, and his trial is imminent.

Finally, Nasser expressed great admiration for the role of bloggers and Al-Fagr newspaper in exposing police brutality. But he also warned of increased police interest in the blogosphere, and expected, if not a crackdown, a state grand campaign to discredit the bloggers.