I had to keep pinching myself to make sure this was real. Khaled Said‘s stencils were sprayed by activists all over the entrance of the Ministry of Interior (MOI), in downtown Cairo.
Hundreds demonstrated on Monday denouncing continued police torture, in Sheikh Rihan Street, in front of the main gate of the MOI, a place that was a big taboo to even stand at, and which used to give me the creeps before the revolution even when just driving by it.
Activists yesterday managed to shut down the “celebrations” held by the Alexandria Library, where a number of police officers were to be “honored” part of a “Conference for reconciling relations between the police and the people”. Among those to be “honored” was SS Colonel Hisham el-Khateeb, who is now part of the newly founded National Security Sector (NSS).
Khateeb, according to activist sources in Alexandria, was in charge of the youth movements in the province. He’s been personally involved in repeated attacks on socialists, ElBaradei supporters, and demonstrators during the Khaled Said protests and Palestine solidarity events. Khateeb was also part of the officers’ squad which shot at protesters trying to storm Alexandria’s SS headquarters in an attempt to stop the officers from destroying the agency’s documents on 4 March 2011. He was whisked away by the army on that night after protesters showered him with the beatings he pretty much deserved.
Part of the police musical chairs game PM Essam Sharaf‘s cabinet is currently playing, Khateeb still retains his position, under the new banner of the NSS.