World Wires

Prosecutors allege police role in deadly Egypt soccer riot

 

McClatchy Newspapers

As the melee was in full swing, the stadium lights went out.

Hummus’ father, Adel Mohammed, defends his son., saying he and Hummus had left the game before the stampede began. While he concedes that his son was at the planning meeting, he says his motives were innocent. The confession must have been coerced, he said.

The Super Green ultra meeting was “normal, and such groups are around all Egypt. They organize themselves and buy and design T-shirts to wear” to the games, Mohammed said. “They are all liars about Hummus carrying weapons. The proof is that each person charges him with carrying something different. What is he, Superman?”

The prosecution summary says several al Masry fans told investigators they’d noticed that one of the gates had been welded shut when they entered the stadium. They also thought it strange that no one was searching people for weapons.

One police officer, known as Defendant 70, had the keys to all the gates but couldn’t be found when the stampede began. According to the file, he kept changing the story behind his disappearance. At one point, he said he didn’t unlock the gate at the request of Defendant 64, another officer. He told someone else the crowds were too big for him to confront. For his part, Defendant 64 said he never gave such orders and couldn’t find his fellow officer when the attack began, the case file says.

“The prosecution found the keys with (Defendant 70) during the investigation. He said that he is the one who locked the doors, and he kept the keys with him until he handed them in to the prosecution. The prosecution made sure of that by trying the keys on the locks on Gates 2 and 3 and they opened the locks,” the summation says.

Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Ali, a worker in the medical examiner’s office who was interviewed by the prosecution, examined some of the bodies and found that many died with skull fractures. Others died of suffocation.

Closed since then, the stadium appears much as it did after the stampede. The field is strewn with bricks and chairs, and dried blood can be seen near the gates. McClatchy found one exit still welded shut.

The new season is set to start this month. Egyptian officials have said all games will take place at military soccer fields, where troops can secure them – a lesson learned from what happened in Port Said.

Ismail is a McClatchy special correspondent.

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