The North Giza Prosecutor interrogated Al-Masry Al-Youm’s investigative journalist and friend Ali Zalat this evening for more than two hours, as a “witness” in the current investigation into the El-Adly Video-Gate scandal. At least one lawyer from the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights was present with Ali during the interrogation.
Ihab Magdi Farouk is currently at the Prosecutor’s office too. It’s unclear why exactly is Ihab now at the prosecutor’s office. Is he there as a victim/witness? or is he there because there were previous charges the Imbaba police had levelled against him? Considering the way the police raided his home, detained his family, and hunted him to arrest him, the latter is more likely.
I’m still also trying to get the details of this, but it seems the two Police Corporals Ahmad Abdel Fattah and Ahmad el-Wardani, together with a third corporal are also currently at the prosecutor’s building, and I received unconfirmed information that they were given 15 days in prison pending a criminal investigation into their conduct.
UPDATE: It’s 1am now in Cairo. Ihab has just left the prosecution building, and will spend the night in police custody at the Imbaba Police Station, where he had been previously abused. Ihab is being investigated on charges of involvement in a street fight, apparently previously levelled against him by the Imbaba Police Station officers, but had been kept on the shelves till he went public with his abuse story. An EOHR lawyer attended the interrogation, and she was trying without success to secure his release, on bail at least, and not spend the night in the Imbaba station, for fear of his safety. I hung up few mins ago with her EOHR colleague Sherif Azer, and they were in front of the Imbaba Police Station getting food and blankets for Ihab.
Ihab is to stand tomorrow Saturday 10am again in front of the North Giza Prosecutor, to continue the investigation.
The EOHR lawyers said they “heard” the three police corporals were given 15 days in prison pending investigation into the abuse, but there is no official confirmation. Contrary to what I posted earlier, the three corporals were not spotted, Sherif Azer told me. However, the three corporals should show up tomorrow at the North Giza Prosecutor’s office for interrogation.