مركز النديم لتأهيل ضحايا العنف والتعذيب

Ismailia Criminal Court will hear the sixth session in the case of the torture of Adel Mahmoud El Sha’er against the director and deputy of Investigative Services of Ismailia Police Station 2.

During the first session on 23 April 2008, the people who accompanied the defendants provoked the victim and questioned his mental faculties while taunting him. They also joined forces with a large number of security agents and secret police and surrounded the El Nadeem Centre lawyers and prevented them from leaving the court room and threatened to kill Adel El Sha’er. The following day the court issued the postponement of the trial to 17 May 2008.

During the session of 17 May we were surprised by the defense’s request to look at the victim’s medical file among other requests. The court refused all the other requests with the exception of the request to see the medical file which had not reached the court at that date and for that reason the trial was postponed. It was postponed many times over the past few months.

We are suspicious of the defense’s insistence on viewing medical files that precede the date of the incident, even when the Decepartment of Forensice Medicine indicated in its report that the victim’s injuries coincide with his story of the incident in terms of time and details. It is his injury in his left ear that has caused a loss of hearing of up to 80%.

The incident dates back to 28 December 2006 when Mr. Adel Mohamed Mahmoud El Sha’er was subjected to beatings, curses and insults at the hands of police officers from Ismailia Police Station led by a detective of Investigative Services Ahmed Hassan. This was witnessed by his wife, daughters and neighbours. The beating and cursing continued as they took him to the Police Station, where he was detained naked with his hands tied behind his back. He was presented to the prosecution a few hours later. He lost his hearing and he lost his confidence in the police whose help he was seeking from his landlord’s bullying. His landlord had fabricated 18 cases against him, he was found innocent of 17 of those. He never lost his self worth and he insisted on trying to get his rights through all the correct channels he knows.

El Nadeem invites you to attend the court session on 17 November 2008 in solidarity with Adel El Sha’er.

Adel El Sha’er lived in an old rented apartment since 1991 in Ismailia. The landlord wanted to remove them from the apartment and with the help of a police officer they fabricated 18 cases against him. The court found him innocent of 17 of them.

His wife Aida Mahmoud El Husseiny 42 years old:

“I am tired... My life is full of misery... since my husbands retirement the landlord is trying everything he can to get us to leave the apartment... Insults from his wife and children.... If Adel goes to talk to him he accuses him of hitting him... He keeps bringing people from the police station to our apartment and makes complaints about us at Ismailia Police Station 2.... Even the deputy they are all his accomplices.... It is an old rental...  We rented it over 18 years ago.... the contract is here and notarised.... Adel made complaints to everyone, to the Association of Veterans, to the Ministers of defense and justice and to the President.... we are suffering an injustice... He also made a complaint to El Badri Farghaly..."

The story is detailed in the complaint that Adel El Shaer sent to the President, the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces, and the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Interior, Minister of Justice, the Director of the Association of Veterans, the inspector of the Ministry of Interior in Ismailia and the Public Prosecutor of West Ismailia.

This is a replica of the letter

Dear sirs,

I am retired army Colonel Adel Mahmoud El Sha’er, I live in the Salam District in Ismailia.

There is a dispute between me and my landlord whose name is Mohamed Ahmed Mansour Sedeeq and his son Ahmed Mohamed Mansour Sedeeq in their attempt to make me leave the apartment that I live in with a permanent lease and based on that I made a request for help from the police on 28 December 2006, while I was making this request, I was surprised to find the Deputy of Investigative Services in Islmailia Police Station 2 whose name is Ahed Hassan a long with four plain clothes secret police agents who I did not know. The aforementioned Deputy said in a loud voice “Bring him”. I asked him if i could make his acquaintance and the acquaintance of the individuals with him.... He snorted and ordered the men to carry me like a slaughtered animal and they proceeded to assault me giving me a severe beating and tearing my clothes in front of my daughters and my wife. When my wife said to Deputy Ahmed Hassan you cannot do this he is a decent human being he cursed at her saying “shut up you whore”. On the way to the Police Station the secret police followed their orders by beating me up in the police van on the way to Police Station when I entered the room in the Police Station Deputy Ahmed Hassan started cursing at me and insulting me, while his lackeys handcuffed me behind my back and slapped me and hit me with their fists until I started bleeding and I fell unconscious... After that Essam Hafez the head of Investigative services came and told Ahmed Hassan to stop, he said “leave him and we can teach him a lesson about resisting authority if he opens his mouth”. After I recovered from the physical beating and the abuse and humiliation they recalled me to a room on the second floor called the fridge (the torture room). It has an iron ceiling and there were 5 other people who had been arrested under other charges. I was laid on the floor naked with my hands cuffed until I was presented to the prosecution at 9PM.

The prosecution referred Adel el Sha’er to Ismailia General Hospital to be examined. In their report they stated that that his ear is suffering due to violence, resulting in tympanic blood accumulation with separation of the bones of the middle ear, which are responsible for conducting vibrations of the eardrum and in this case causing the reduction of hearing, he needs treatment and in case the treatment fails he needs surgery. It is not possible to determine the results, his hearing may or may not return. In summary, the patient is suffering from blood accumulation in the left ear drum and requires treatment for more than 21 days. He may be in need of a drainage tube.