Security officer acquitted of torturing, murdering Salafi activist in 2011

A former State Security Investigations Services (SSIS) officer in Alexandria was acquitted on Thursday of torturing a Salafi man to death in 2011 during interrogations about the deadly bombing at the Two Saints Church.

Officer Abdel Rahman al-Sheemy had previously been sentenced to 15 years in maximum security prison and fined LE10,000 for his role in Sayed Belal’s death, according to the Reuters-affiliated news site Aswat Masreya. Four other officers had also been convicted in absentia in that case, and were sentenced to life in prison.

However, Sheemy was released from custody last June pending retrial after the Alexandria Court of Cassation accepted his appeal against that verdict.

Officers from the now-disbanded SSIS arrested Belal early on January 5, 2011 with a large group of Salafis they brought in for questioning in relation the Two Saints Church bombing on New Year’s Eve, 2010. The attack resulted in the deaths of 21 civilians.

An investigation into Belal’s death showed that he suffered extreme injuries due to torture inflicted while he was held at the SSIS headquarters. He died shortly after being moved to a medical center.  

Belal’s death sparked outrage in 2011, becoming a symbol of police brutality that many credited with helping to catalyze the January 25, 2011 revolution, paralleling the 2010 murder of Khaled Saeed. Saeed's death at the hands of security officers is also seen by many as a watershed moment that prompted people to take the streets on January 25.

Two officers were sentenced to 10 years in prison in early March 2015 for killing Saeed. However, Saeed’s family felt the sentencing was unjust — his sister, Zohar Saeed, told Mada Masr at the time that she believed the death penalty would have been the only fair outcome.   

Sheemy’s acquittal comes amid a spate of alleged police violations that have received widespread media attention. These include the alleged kidnapping of engineering student Islam Salah Eddin, popularly known as Atitu, from the Ain Shams University campus. Atitu was later killed in what the Interior Ministry alleges was a shoot out with security officers.

In another recent incident, a police officer accidently killed a woman after he fired his gun twice into the air in an attempt to disperse crowds that had gathered to witness a fight.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also recently released a report documenting a surge of sexual violence perpetrated by security forces since former President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in July, 2013.