The body of a young man, Ahmed Mohamed Shaaban, was found in the Mahmoudiya canal in Alexandria on Saturday.
The family of the deceased have requested an autopsy of the body to determine the cause of death, accusing the police of torturing and killing Shabaan–an allegation the police deny.
Activists have condemned potential police responsibility for Shaaban's death, which has brought back into public consciousness the case of Khaled Saeed, a 28-year man allegedly killed by the police to death in Alexandria this summer. Saeed’s death spurred major mass actions to protest police brutality.
Security sources said Shaaban, 19, and a colleague of his had snatched a woman’s handbag in the Semouha district and ran away. According to the official account, pedestrians chased the pair and caught Shabaan’s colleague. Police claim that Shaaban could have fallen and drowned in the canal while he was escaping.
Shaaban's family say he was on his way home from a wedding when he was stopped by police at a checkpoint and a fight erupted when Shabaan refused to be checked. Three days following his arrest, the family was called and told that his jacket and mobile phone had been found in the Mahmoudiya canal.
The family reported that when Shabaan’s body was retrieved, they found that his stomach and arms had been ripped apart. According to lawyers, Shaaban was allegedly tortured in the Sidi Gaber police station, where Saeed was also said to have been tortured.
MP Hamdi Hassan has submitted an urgent interpellation to the prime minister and the Interior Minister, requesting an explanation of the incident. Lawyers defending Shaaban are disputing a police claim that Shabaan was the one who threw himself into the canal.
