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Hossam el-Hamalawy

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Hossam el-Hamalawy

Year: 2008

Al-Marg pigs refuse to investigate hanged child case, his parents say

Posted on 25/06/200802/01/2021 By 3arabawy

From the Daily News Egypt:

Mustafa Mahmoud Ibrahim, aged 11, was found hanged at the door of his own home in the Al-Marg area by his mother 10 days ago.
A stranger had come knocking one night to tell the boy’s family that he was on the front porch, and the mother found him hanged from the roof of the house. The neighbors helped her rush him to the hospital but the boy had passed away by the time they got there.
As they returned home with the body, they were arrested by the Al-Marg police. Mustafa’s mother tried to file a report on the incident and search for the killer but was told instead, “Do you want your son to be buried or to be sliced up in an autopsy?”
The police said that the boy had died from falling off of the swings in front of their home. But the mother pointed out that this was impossible as the child’s death had taken place around midnight, way past the time when he’d be out playing on the swings, and that her son had been hanged
At this point, the officer dragged her to the District Attorney’s office, asking him to close the case before it even started. Again he threatened an autopsy if she didn’t do as she was told. She gave in and the District Attorney gave her a burial permit.
Mahmoud Ibrahim, the father of the child and a traveling salesman, was contacted by his wife straight after the incident. He rushed off to the hospital and saw the rope marks around the boy’s throat. He tried to get this point through to the officer in charge, only to be rebuffed and told: “Please, we don’t want a headache. Your son is dead. It’s over and done with.”
He realized then and there that the police wanted to close the case and consider it an act of God.

Mahalla documents

Posted on 25/06/200807/02/2021 By 3arabawy

Here’s a translation, thanks to Sarah, of the Tanta Public Prosecutor’s court referral orders:

Transfer order
We, Al-Asmar Nazir Mosaad ,General Attorney of the East Tanta koleyya Prosecution Office
After reviewing the papers and investigations they detail
Accuse:
1. Ahmad Abdel Raouf Hassanein Mahmoud, 40, unemployed (detained)
2. Fawzeyya Hafez El-Shenawy, 58, driver (released)
3. Ashraf Shabaan Daoud Shabaan, 39, trader (detained)
4. Muhammad Galal Ismail Khater, 19, laborer (detained)
5. Muhammad Ezzat Youssef El-Zeiny, –, –, (fugitive)
6. Tareq Muhammad Abdel Hafeez El-Sawy, 22, tailor (detained)
7. Moustafa El-Sayyed Muhammad El-Gamal, 33, ironmonger (released)
8. Osama Abdel Fattah Hammad El-Batal, –, –, (released)
9. Hamada Ibrahim Tawfeq El-Bassiouny, 27, diploma in commerce (detained)
10. Muhammad Hasan El-Zogby Atteya, 34, driver (released)
11. Ali Ali Amin Abo Omar, 38, unemployed (detained)
12. Moqbal Abdel Moneim Ahmad Abo Rahhal, 43, painter (detained)
13. Ahmad El-Sayyed Muhammad Ali El-Dahhan, 24, driver (detained)
14. Ahmad Kamel Ahmad Muhammad Ismail, 27, furniture maker (detained)
15. Ahmad Abdel Moneim Muhammad Dessouqy, 39, shop owner (detained)
16. Ahmad Mosaad Muhammad Ragheb, 21, ironmonger (released)
17. Mansour Muhammad Mansour Abdallah, 42, barber (detained)
18. Muhammad Abdel Meguid El-Maqsoud Moussa, 36, driver (released)
19. Mahmoud Muhammad Muhammad Ibrahim, 19, student (released)
20. Mahmoud Shawqy Abo El-Azam, –, — (fugitive)
21. Karim Ahmad El-Said Ahmad El-Refai, 19, decorator (detained)
22. Wael Abdel Qader El-Beltagy, –, — (fugitive)
23. Mosaad El-Sayyed Ibrahim El-Sharnouby, –, — (fugitive)
24. Ahmad Samir Ahmad Abdel Moazz, 22, spinner (released)
25. Rafat Muhammad Muhammad El-Bawab, 47, plumber (released)
26. Essam Muhammad Ibrahim El-Saqra, 28, embroiderer (detained)
27. El-Khateeb Abdallah Zaky El-Naqeeb, 28, trader (detained)
28. Abdel Moaty Fathy Muhammad Ali, 22, laborer (detained)
29. Ibrahim El-Metwaly Ahmad Sallam, 23, laborer (released)
30. Ibrahim Muhammad Youssef Abdel Meguid, 23, bus conductor (released)
31. Farahaat Sabry Muhammad Abdallah, 39, painter (released)
32. Osama Eid Muhammad Abdel Galeel, 30, laborer (detained)
33. Baher Said Hamed El-Damiaty, 27, shop assistant (released)
34. Rady Muhammad Hassan El-Zaghl, 33, laborer (released)
35. Abdel Aziz Fathy Abo Salem, 30, unemployed (released)
36. Ramy Maysara Abdel Wahab Salem, 29, driver (released)
37. El-Said Kamel Muhammad Harheera, 28, laborer (released)
38. Ahmad Muhammad Farhana, 22, barber (released)
39. Bassam Adel Abdel Hay Saada, 21, driver (released)
40. Ibrahim Ibrahim Abdel Hamid Ammara, 20, laborer (released)
41. Basem Muhammad El-Azab Muhammad, 27, electrician (released)
42. Mahmoud Abo Bakr Ahmad El-Shennawy, 22, carpenter (detained)
43. Ashraf Muhammad Eissa Salem, 42, ironmonger (detained)
44. Muhammad Shayboub Muhammad Sayyed Ahmad, 29, fruit seller (detained)
45. Helmy Muhammad Helmy El-Saadawy, 24, furniture maker (detained)
46. Ibrahim Samy Hassan Muhammad Badr, 21, donkey cart driver (detained)
47. Tareq Farouq El-Sayyed El-Guindy, 33, bus conductor (detained)
48. Hamada Zaky Hamadto Zaky Hegazy, 28, bus conductor (detained)
49. Muhammad Rezq El-Bayyoumy Rezq, 27, ironmonger (detained)

That on 6th and 7th April 2008, in the 1st and 2nd Districts of Mahalla, Gharbeia Governorate
a. Defendants numbers 1 – 41
Took part, with other unknown people, in a riotous assembly composed of more than five persons of a nature to endanger the general peace. The aim of the riotous assembly was to commit theft and ransacking using force and violence. When arrested some of them were carrying firearms and others were carrying instruments of a nature to cause death if used as weapons. Defendants numbers 1 – 10 planned this riotous assembly, and the following crimes were committed with the intention of carrying out the intended and deliberate aim of this riotous assembly:
1. Deliberate destruction of buildings and public property (the Taha Hussein and Abdel Hay Khalil Schools, the El-Shoun post office, the El-Alw traffic and emergency response post, the El-Shoun Square Services Office). The operations of these public offices were hindered as a result, and people’s lives and wellbeing endangered. LE 9,526,504.50 (nine million, five hundred and twenty six thousand, five hundred and four pounds, and fifty piastres) worth of damage were caused in the manner established in the investigations…
2. Deliberate starting of fires in the Taha Hussein and Abdel Hay Khalil Schools and the El-Alw traffic and emergency response post. They threw burning bottles [Molotov cocktails] and as a result fire spread the contents of these buildings and burnt them in the manner established in the investigations…
3. Endangering and delaying of land transport vehicles. They set fire to rubber tyres and placed them in the middle of the road and on the railway tracks. Train driver Ahmad Hussein Ismail Gamal Eddin received the injuries described in the medical report attached to the papers as a result of this and had to receive 20 days of medical treatment. This occurred in the manner established in the investigations…
4. Deliberate damage of the property of telephone networks (Menatel, El-Nil and El-Masreyya Lel Ittisalaat telephone booths ) built using public funds and described and valued in the reports. As a result of this calls [from these booths] were cut off in the manner established in the investigations…
5. Acting as a gang, they damaged and ransacked the contents of the Abdel Hay Khalil, Taha Hussein and Omar Za’faan Schools, El-Alw emergency response post, telephone boxes owned by the Menatel, El-Nil and El-Masreyya Lel Ittisalaat companies, the El-Alw Emergency response and traffic post, Silver for Shoes shops , Awlaad Raslaan, Naseer Zaqzooq, the El-Shafei Pharmacy, a shop owned by Fatma Ibrahim Khareesa, Nosf El-Donya, the Ahmad Muhammad Photography Studio, Hassan Abdel Moneim’s Wedding Dress Rental shop, Muhammad Mahmoud Salah’s Wedding Gown Rental shop, Yosry El-Gazar’s confectionary shop, Fina Copy Center and Atef Ilyas’ jewellery shop. This was carried out using force in the manner established in the investigations…
6. They deliberately damaged:
a. Private equipment, tools and handicrafts, some lampposts and the footbridge intended for the benefit of the public in the streets and public squares of El-Mahalla El-Kobra. This resulted in LE 60,857,25 (sixty thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven and twenty-five piastres) worth of damage in the manner established in the investigations…
b. Fifty cars owned by the police, the governorate and the emergency services. This resulted in LE 287,530 (two hundred thousand, five hundred and thirty) worth of damage in the manner established in the investigations…
c. Twenty cars and twelve buses owned by the Mahalla El-Kobra local transport authority. This caused LE 14,670 (fourteen thousand, six hundred and seventy) worth of damage in the manner established in the investigations…
d. Shop fronts of the El-Watany Development Bank, Alexandria Bank, the 23 July branch of the Egypt Bank, and the Mahalla branch of the Cairo Bank, the Egypt for Islamic Transactions Bank and two ATMs owned by two other banks. This resulted in 209538,28 (two hundred and nine thousand, five hundred and thirty eight hundred pounds and 28 piastres) worth of damage in the manner established in the investigations…
e. Eight trains and the Mahalla El-Kobra electricity box. They threw stones at them leading to the damages described in the railway engineer’s report. 56,540,40.08 (fifty six thousand, five hundred and forty pounds and 20 piastres) worth of damage in the manner established in the investigations…
f. A private car owned by Rehab Mahmoud El Gazar (registration: 74994 Malaky El-Gharbeia) and two cars owned by Ghaaz Misr Company (registration: 23342 naql El-Gharbeia and 24168 naql El-Gharbeia). This resulted in material damage to the vehicles’ owners of over fifty pounds in the manner established in the investigations.
As a result of the crimes described above the provision of public services was delayed and people’s lives and well being endangered in the manner established in the investigations.
7. They assaulted the policemen named in the investigations and resisted them using force and violence during the policemen’s carrying out of their duties, namely the preservation of order and security. They fired gunshots at them and pelted them with stones and lit bottles [Molotov cocktails]. This resulted in their receiving the injuries described in the medical reports attached which required no more than twenty days of medical treatment except for the first [policeman] who required more than twenty days, in the manner established in the investigations…
8. They stole a walkie-talkie in the possession of officer Muhammad Ahmad Qa’ood. Some of them were carrying weapons at the time. This took place in one of the streets in Mahalla El-Kobra in the manner established in the investigations…
9. Illegal possession of [incomprehensible word] firearms (four locally-made bullet cartridges) in the manner established in the investigations…
10. Illegal possession of ammunition used in the weapons described in the previous charge in the manner established in the investigations…
11. Possession of tools used to assault people (stones, bottles and sticks) in the manner established in the investigations…
12. They threw stones at trains and railway property (the Mahalla electricity box) and endangered the passage of trains by putting burning tyres on the tracks in the manner established in the investigations…
b. Defendants 42 – 49
Took part, with the other defendants described above and other unknown individuals, in the riotous assembly described in the first charge. They were ordered to disperse by the police and refused to submit to them. They did not obey their orders in order to carry out the following crimes…
Defendant 42
Stole the weapon in the possession of Sergeant Ahmad Muhammad Abdel Wahed. He joined other unknown individuals who gathered around him [Abdel Wahed] and physically assaulted him, enabling them in this way to force him to give in and they appropriated the weapon previously mentioned as well as ammunition without a licence . This occurred in one of Mahalla El-Kobra’s streets in the manner established in the investigations…
Defendants 43 – 49
Joined with defendants 1 – 41 in ransacking the Abdel Hay Khalil and Taha Hussein Schools and telephone boxes owned by the Menatel, El-Nil and El-Masreyya Lel Ittisalaat companies as well as advertisements and propaganda [the exact translation is ‘guidance’] posters , using force in the manner established in the investigations…

On the basis of this
The defendants have committed crimes under [lists articles].
And for this reason
After examining Presidential Decree 167 [year 1958] on the State of Emergency and Presidential Decree 560 [year 1981] on the Declaration of a State of Emergency and Presidential Decree 121 [year 2006] on the Extension of the State of Emergency and Presidential Order 1 [year 1981] on the transfer of certain crimes to State Security Courts, I order:
1. The transfer of the case to the Supreme State Security Emergency Court based in the Tanta Appeals Court…The preventative detention of defendants 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, 27, 28, 32, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48 and 49 is hereby extended. Defendants 5, 8, 10, 22 and 23 are to be apprehended and detained in custody during the course of investigations.

Rashad

Posted on 24/06/200809/02/2021 By 3arabawy

Another pic from the Family Album:

Rashad رشاد

My dad, standing first to the right, wrote on the back of the photo, “Fayoum” but no date is mentioned. I’d suggest it was taken sometime in 1966 or 1967 before the June War. One of the persons I recognize in that pic is his best friend, whom I won’t name or point out at the moment since he’s still alive and I didn’t consult with him whether he wanted to talk about this part of his and my dad’s lives or not. But it was through this friend that my father was first introduced to Fatah, during his post-graduate years.

Launching the “Palestinian Revolution” in January 1965, Fatah earned the suspicion and the denunciation of the Nasserist regime. Despite using the Palestinian cause as a cornerstone for his legitimacy in Egypt and the Arab World, Nasser was sure to exert full control on the Palestinian armed activities, setting up the PLO and imposing his stooge Ahmad el-Shoqueri whose job was praising Nasser and making sure no “miscalculated and adventurist” armed Palestinian resistance operations occurred against the Zionist state.

When Arafat and his posse took up arms in 1965, Nasser naturally viewed them with suspicion as “Syrian agents” and accused them of “adventurism.” News about the group’s (few, but were picking up) armed operations were censored in the Egyptian state-controlled press. But news were leaking into the Egyptian universities about this new mysterious Fatah group through the Palestinian students…

My father’s best friend was dating, and later married, a Palestinian who was affiliated to Fatah, and was studying in Cairo when they met and fell in love. Both him and my dad were staunch believers in Nasser, and sincerely believed he was working towards liberating Palestine. But the two were also on the more radical left side of their peers in the (regime-sponsored) Organization of the Socialist Youth. They looked up to Nasser, but felt “more was needed.” So they got into an endless cycle of love-hate towards Nasser, and already felt before the 1967 defeat that some “extra push” was needed to make Nasser tackle this or that.

The 1967 defeat came as an earthquake and shattered many of their illusions, radicalizing them further to the left. While his friend went on to get more involved in supporting Fatah, my father started sniffing around for a communist organization to join.

Rashad رشاد

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