Protests over Sidi Barrani resident’s death by police gunfire leave 5 residents, officer facing charges

A wave of anger erupted last week in the western coastal city of Sidi Barrani after a police officer shot and killed a resident, Hafeez Hawya Abd Rabbo.

Ostensibly, as part of the routine stop-and-search operations carried out to control migration to the city near the Libyan border, the police officer tried to stop Abd Rabbo, who refused the instruction. The officer’s response was to fire a loaded weapon at Abd Rabbo six times, say relatives of the deceased who spoke to Mada Masr.

With Sidi Barrani residents taking to the streets to protest the local authorities’ perpetration of the crime and as clips of the protests spread across the country via social media, prompting public outrage at the act of violence, the Armed Forces intervened and held the officer, releasing him on Friday.

Though the officer has refuted the charges that he shot Abd Rabbo in cold blood, weaving an entirely divergent story about the chain of events, he was nevertheless referred to trial on Sunday.

Five residents who demonstrated against the murder have also been referred to trial on charges of breaking into the local police station, vandalism, rioting, and killing a junior member of the police force, Mohamed Sadek, after protests broke out against the act of police violence.

The incident in Sidi Barrani is the second instance in July alone in which an official is to face trial after killing a member of the public.

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Mada Masr spoke to two people close to Abd Rabbo, who explained what happened in the scene that unfolded in the city one week ago.

On July 11, the officer attempted to stop Abd Rabbo in front of a car showroom he owns in Sidi Barrani, said Abd Rabbo’s brother.

In a corroborating account, a source from the Mahfouz tribe, to which Abd Rabbo belongs, said, “Before Abd Rabbo was killed, he was standing in front of the showroom he owned in the city.”

“The police officer suspected and stopped him, so Abd Rabbo refused to respond to him given that there was no justification.”

Then, and in broad daylight, said Abd Rabbo’s brother, the police officer shot him six times.

A medical report from the Matrouh Health Directorate obtained by Mada Masr showed that Abd Rabbo's death was caused by a gunshot wound.

The officer, meanwhile, claimed that Abd Rabbo attempted to run him over, causing him to lose balance and discharge the weapon by accident.

Yet, building an analysis based on CCTV footage of what happened on July 11, fact-checking platform Matsada2sh observed on Monday that shots were clearly fired at the front of Abd Rabbo’s vehicle, suggesting that the officer opened fire "before any confrontation, specifically during his exit from the showroom at the beginning of the video."

According to the Public Prosecution, which released a statement on Monday to detail its inquiries into the sequence of events, accounts from several parties to the incident — four eyewitnesses and an unspecified number of security personnel — also stated that Abd Rabbo was driving quickly and didn’t stop when the officers asked him to stop more than once, after which the officer “drew his weapon and fired shots at the car,” injuring Abd Rabbo. The security personnel who spoke to the prosecution, like the officer himself, claimed that Abd Rabbo had attempted to run the officer over.

Sidi Barrani Police Station also submitted an account of the incident to the Public Prosecution on July 11, which only stated that a person died while the police stopped his car during “its security mission to reduce illegal immigration and the trafficking of narcotic substances.”

“Sidi Barrani is subject to repeated search operations because of its proximity to the Libyan border,” said the source from the Mahfouz tribe.

Abd Rabbo’s murder was followed by widespread anger among residents on the night of July 11, with some protesting in the streets, hurling stones at the police station, setting fire to tires nearby, clashing with police officers and blocking the route into town.

“A police officer died in the hospital at dawn after a resident hit him with his car during the clashes,” the Matrouh security director said, according to a relative of Abd Rabbo. Eight Sidi Barrani residents were arrested in relation to the demonstrations, three of whom have been released, while another five remain held in remand for 15 days pending trial, according to statements made to Mada Masr by the lawyer of one of the defendants.

While the demonstrations raged on Tuesday evening, a resident — one of three who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity — said the Armed Forces intervened to “protect the facilities,” while another resident added that Western military region leaders as well as the Military Intelligence were attempting mediation efforts to calm down the residents.

Meanwhile, one of the three residents said that the Armed Forces held the officer at one of their headquarters in the city following the incident, before he was later passed to police custody. Though the Interior Ministry has yet to publicly comment on the events or disclose the identity of the officer in question, some of the residents said that the officer suspected of murder was not from the governorate but was instead seconded to Sidi Barrani from elsewhere.

According to Abd Rabbo's brother, after Abd Rabbo was buried, the Matrouh Security Directorate’s head requested that tribal sheikhs in Matrouh meet with military officials on Wednesday morning to resolve the matter "amicably."

However, Abd Rabbo's brother demanded that legal procedures continue.

“All the people of Sidi Barrani are demanding a fair trial, pointing out that the lesson learned from what happened is the need to reconsider security policies and stop shooting and security prosecutions in residential areas to preserve citizens’ lives,” said the Matrouh Council of Mayors and Sheikhs’ head, Menem Israfil, to Mada Masr.

After the Public Prosecution released the officer on Friday, it referred him to criminal trial on Sunday, though no information has been released as of yet about the charges.