Six men at imminent risk of execution
Six Egyptian men, have had their death sentences upheld by the Supreme Military Court and could be executed at any time for killing members of the security forces after a grossly unfair trial. They say they «confessed» under torture to belonging to an armed group.
Six men convicted of killing members of the security forces, in a grossly unfair trial, have had their death sentences upheld by the Supreme Criminal Military Court. They were convicted of killing nine members of the security forces between 13 and 19 March 2014 in spite of the fact that at least three of the men were held in secret at the time of the crime they have been sentenced for.
The Supreme Criminal Military Court, on 24 March 2015, upheld death sentences handed down to Mohamed Bakry, Hany Amer, Mohamed Afifi, Abdel Rahman Said, Khaled Farg, Islam Said and Ashraf Al Gharably (in his absence), and life imprisonment handed down to two other men. The nine men had been convicted of carrying out attacks against the security forces that killed nine soldiers between 13 and 19 March 2014.
According to the National Security Agency’s investigations and the case file seen by Amnesty International, the security forces arrested the men in Arab Sharkas village, North of Cairo after raiding a warehouse on 19 March 2014. This contradicts the accounts of the security forces that raided the warehouse who stated they had killed six men in the warehouse and left no one alive. The six men’s lawyers and families have told Amnesty International that the dates and places of arrest were falsified in the case file, as three of the men had already been in custody at the time of the raid, held in secret in Al Azouly Military Prison since late 2013; and that the three other men facing execution were arrested on 16 March and held secretly in premises of the National Security Agency in Cairo.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The security forces stormed a warehouse in Arab Sharkas village, Qalyubia Governorate, north of Cairo on 19 March 2014, claiming that it belonged to the armed group Ansar Bait Al Maqdes. They killed all six armed men inside after an exchange of fire. The Ministry of Interior later announced that the security forces had raided the warehouse killing six men and arresting another eight. This was contradicted by the security forces who carried out the raid, who who stated on a TV interview that all six men inside the warehouse had been killed and no one had been left alive.
According to lawyers and families of those charged, at least three of the men sentenced to death could not have been involved in the attacks on the security forces in March 2014 as they had been arrested and held secretly in Al Azouly military prison in Ismalia, 130 km north-west of Cairo, since 2013. Amnesty International has seen two petitions submitted by their families to the Public Prosecutor’s office reporting their enforced disappearances. According to lawyers, the Public Prosecution ordered an investigation in February 2014.
Families and lawyers told Amnesty International that Abdel Rahman Said and Islam Said had been arrested at a travel agency in Cairo on 16 March 2014, while Khaled Farg was arrested at his home that day. The three men are accused of killing 9 members of the security forces including two military officers on 19 March 2014
Mohamed Afifi, Mohamed Bakry and Hany Amer were tortured and otherwise ill-treated while in the secret military prison to extract confessions, according to their families and lawyers. Abdel Rahman Said, Islam Said and Khaled Farg were taken to the National Security Agency in Lazougli in Cairo after they were arrested on 16 March 2014, and tortured to obtain «confessions».. The six men were transferred to Al Aqrab Maximum Security Prison in Tora Prison complex by the end of March 2014.
The military prosecutor questioned all the defendants inside the prison without giving them access to their lawyers or families, Khaled Farag was initially questioned in hospital as he had sustained two broken legs as a result of torture.
The men’s families were not allowed to visit them until May and June 2014. The men told them how they had been tortured including by electrocution and suspending them in stress positions for long hours.
Lawyers and families of the defendants told Amnesty International that the only witness in the case was the National Security officer who had prepared the evidence in the case. Families added that National Security officers had threatened other witnesses who could have testified in favour of the defendants to prevent them from testifying. The court did not respond to the lawyers’ requests to summon witnesses who could have testified in favour of the defendants.
Lawyers and families also said the court that convicted the men had disregarded the falsification of the dates and places of arrest and based the verdicts on «confessions» obtained under torture. The court only heard the testimony of the National Security officer who prepared the evidence, and denied the defence’s request to call witnesses.
Lawyers told Amnesty International that the two men sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty were spared only because the national security officer mentioned in his testimony in court that they didn’t play a role in the attacks against the security forces but they confessed of belonging to the Ansar Bait Al Maqdes armed group.
Names: Mohamed Bakry Haroun, Hany Mostafa Amer, Mohamed Ali Afifi, Abdel Rahman Said Rizk, Khaled Farg Mohamed, Islam Said Ahmed, Ashraf Ali Hassnain Al Gharably (in his absence).
