Egypt: Video of police abuse stokes anger
Video broadcast on TV shows a naked protester as police tried to bundle him into a van.
CAIRO: Egypt s Interior Ministry vowed Saturday to investigate the beating of a naked protester by riot police as they tried to bundle him into a police van after the incident was caught on camera and broadcast live on television.
The video of the beating, which took place late Friday as protests raged in the streets outside the presidential palace, could further inflame popular anger with security forces just as anti-government demonstrators marched again on the palace Saturday.
Egyptians were outraged last year when military police were caught on camera dragging a veiled woman through the streets during a protest, pulling her conservative black robe over her head and revealing her blue bra.
In the footage from Friday, at least seven black-clad riot police beat 48-year-old Hamada Saber, whose pants are down around his ankles, with sticks before dragging him along the muddy pavement and tossing him into a police van. It was not clear how his clothes shirt and pants were removed.
The beating happened as thousands of protesters chanted against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, throwing firebombs and firing flares at the presidential palace as police pumped volleys of tear gas and bird shot into the crowd, killing one protester and wounding more than 90.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday that it "regrets" the beating, and that it is investigating the incident. But it also sought to distance itself and the police in general from the abuse, saying that "what took place was carried out by individuals that do not represent in any way the doctrine of all policemen who direct their efforts to protecting the security and stability of the nation and sacrifice their lives to protect civilians."
A statement by Morsi s office called the incident "shocking", but stressed that violence and vandalism of government property is unacceptable.
Rights groups have accused Morsi of not taking steps to reform the Interior Ministry, which was long the backbone of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak s regime.
Police under Mubarak were notorious for using excessive force against protesters and beating those in custody. The uprising against his rule erupted in early 2011 in large part out of anger against widespread police powers and impunity.
Protesters and rights groups have most recently accused police of using excessive force this past week during a wave of mass demonstrations in cities around the country called by opposition politicians, trying to wrest concessions from Morsi.
But many protesters go further, saying Morsi must be removed from office, accusing his Muslim Brotherhood of monopolizing power and failing to deal with the country s mounting woes. Many have been further angered by Morsi s praise of the security forces after the high death toll.
Health officials say more than 60 have been killed nationwide in just seven days. The chaos prompted Morsi to order a limited curfew in three provinces and the deployment of the military to the streets.
