The general prosecutor’s office detained lieutenant Salah Ashraf al-Sigini for four days while it investigates his alleged attack on a microbus driver in al-Gazaer square in Basatin on Thursday afternoon. Al-Sigini is charged with attempted murder.
The prosecutor in Bassatin got a statement from the lieutenant at the police hospital, who confirmed that he and the victim fought. Their clash then escalated and other drivers got involved. The lieutenant said he did not mean to fire on the driver, and that his gun fired while one of the other drivers was trying to grab his weapon.
Eyewitnesses said the cab driver tried to pass the officer’s car close to al-Gazaer Square. The police officer thought that the cab driver was trying to pass him and obstruct the road, which angered him.
After the fight erupted and the shot was fired, hundreds of citizens protested, and hit the police officer, causing several serious injuries and setting his car on fire. Eyewitnesses added that the citizens grabbed the police officer and hit him until the military police arrested him, and transferred him to the armed forces hospital
The prosecutor also got a statement from the injured driver at Qasr al-Aini hospital and requested a report from the hospital administration detailing his physical condition.
The prosecution’s survey of the crime scene confirmed damages to the lieutenant’s private car as well as to a police car also on the scene.
The neighborhood of Maadi witnessed the influx of hundreds of citizens who chanted against the Ministry of Interior and marched to the Sakr Qarish Police Station, trying to storm it and set it on fire. A second group headed to the prosecutor’s office in Bassatin to protest. A third group headed to the Corniche to protest the conduct of police officers.
After the first week of the 25 January protests when riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on crowds of protesters, the people’s deep seated mistrust of the police has worsened and both sides have become more suspicious.
The first day of Egypt’s uprising was planned to coincide with Police Day, as demonstrators protested against police brutality and corruption.
