Police officer shoots lawyer in court

A police officer shot lawyer Mohamed al-Gamal inside a Madinet Nasr Court on Saturday, according to news reports by the privately owned Al Masry Al Youm and al-Watan.

The privately owned Youm7 wrote on Saturday that the fight began when Gamal allegedly attempted to give a cell phone to his client who he was defending, while the defendant was held inside the court's detention room.

The police refused to allow the cell phone into the detention room and a fight began between Gamal and a police officer from al-Amiriya Police Station.  As Gamal headed to the Lawyers Syndicate bureau inside the courtroom to notify his colleagues of the incident, the police officer shot at him hitting him in the back and injuring a conscript from the police force.

According to a security source the lawyer was taken to the Health Insurance Hospital in Madinet Nasr in critical condition and remains in the Intensive Care Unit. The police officer  was arrested and interrogated by the Madinet Masr prosecution.

Lawyer Halem Henish posted on his Facebook page early on Sunday, saying that the lawyer's health was improving. Henish posted a picture of Gamal in a hospital gown and wrote, "thank god our colleague is fine and in good condition and Allah bring him happiness."

Earlier this year, lawyer Karim Hamdy was killed at a Matareya police station. Following his death an autopsy report concluded that Hamdy’s injuries were consistent with those caused by torture. He had broken ribs and bleeding in the brain due to severe trauma to the head, in addition to bruises all over his body, concentrated on the head and abdomen.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi publicly apologized to lawyers in June amid an ongoing strike over police violations. The president stated that offences by security personnel against lawyers would be treated as individual acts. The strike, organized by the Lawyers Syndicate, followed an incident where lawyer Emad Fahmy was assaulted by the head of Farskour police station in Damietta.