Alexandria: The family of a blogger allegedly beaten to death by police, want the two policemen on trial for using "excessive force" against him, to be charged with murder.
The court hearing of the two men, Mahmoud Salah and Awad Suliman, opened on Tuesday in Alexandria, amid much attention from local and foreign human rights groups, who have condemned the Egyptian authorities for the death of Khaled Saeed on June 6.
According to Saeed's family and local witnesses, the two detectives beat the 28-year-old man to death outside a cybercafé in Alexandria, allegedly for posting a clip on the Internet exposing the policemen sharing the lout from a drug bust.
Two forensic examinations, ordered by Egypt's Chief Prosecutor, however, concluded that Saeed had died after choking on a packet of drugs which he is said to have swallowed when the detectives approached him.
The two policemen, who appeared in the dock on Tuesday, are charged with illegally arresting and using excessive force on Saeed.
Rafaat Dawar, Saeed's lawyer has asked the court to upgrade the charges to murder. "Members of the committee which conducted a post-mortem on Khaled Seaed should be summoned to testify in this case," he told the court. The lawyer also asked the court to cross-examine the paramedics who had transported Saeed prior to his death.
Chief Judge of the court Mousa El Nahrawi postponed the hearings until September 25.
There was much tension in the courtroom throughout the hearing. Families of the two policemen, and that of Saeed and his supporters, filed into the building, amid tight security.
Dozens of Saeed's supporters, meanwhile, chanted anti-government slogans outside the court building and were involved in clashes with police.
"We will continue to push for ending the Emergency Law, which is the main reason for Khaled Saeed's death," said Ahmed Maher, a member of the protest group April 6. "We had demanded this trial and it was held. Now our next aim is to get this [Emergency] law scrapped," he told Gulf News.
Opposition says that the Emergency Law, which has been in effect in Egypt for nearly 30 years, gives police excessive powers, including detention without trial. The Egyptian Government, meanwhile, says that the law, extended last year for two more years, is used only in terror and drug-related crimes.
