Khaled Saeed case is a ‘Zionist creation’, says defense lawyer

The case of Khaled Saeed is a “Zionist creation” aimed at disrupting the Egyptian regime at the time, according to the lawyer defending two police officers previously convicted of murdering the iconic victim.

In a hearing at the Alexandria Criminal Court Monday, Ihab Abdel Aziz, representing police officers Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Soliman, referred to Saeed’s brother, saying he “holds American citizenship.” The lawyer made no further explanation of his claim.

In 2012, police officers Mahmoud and Soliman were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for Saeed’s June 2010 murder in Alexandria. The two men filed an appeal and are now facing a retrial.

“Khaled Saeed died because he killed himself swallowing the bag that was with him. His death has nothing to do with the defendants,” Abdel Aziz said. “The case does not involve a victim, but involves a deceased as per the witnesses’ testimony.” 

The lawyer said Saeed was “suspicious,” since he had tattoos, which are usually associated with people with criminal records.

In the previous hearing in December, pathologist Mohamed Abdel Aziz said that Saeed’s cause of death was asphyxiation after swallowing a bag of hashish, as stated in the initial report he prepared with other doctors at the Forensics Authority in 2010.

However, multiple eyewitnesses reported seeing the accused officers beating Saeed to death in the street where he was apprehended, in front of a cyber cafe in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria.

Abdel Aziz maintained that the defendants did not use force against Saeed, and urged the court to not take the testimony of Saeed’s friends and family into account.

Saeed’s death became a symbol of police brutality, with photographs of his disfigured face quickly going viral on social media. He has been referred to as “the face that started a revolution,” as many believe his death was the spark that led to the January 25 revolution.