Interior ministry investigating alleged assault on MP in Cairo police station
Ahram Online , Friday 15 Jul 2016
Zeinab Salem said she was assaulted by a police officer after she complained about the treatment of an arrested relative


Egypt's interior ministry is investigating an MP’s claim that she was assaulted by a police officer at a Cairo police station, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Friday.

The ministry has relieved the officer involved in the alleged assault from his duties while the investigation is being carried out, a security source told Al-Ahram.

Zeinab Salem said that she was physically assaulted by a police officer at Nasr City police station in Cairo on Thursday evening, where she was visiting a family member.

Salem was accompanying her sister to see her nephew, who had been arrested the same day after getting involved in an argument.

Salem told several media outlets that a police officer assaulted both her and her sister physically when she objected to how her nephew had been beaten during his detention.

Ahram Online was unable to reach Salem by phone on Friday.

According to news reports, the MP sent a message to an MPs’ group on the WhatsApp messaging service asking for help. Several MPs arrived at the police station and found her on the floor in disarray and without her veil.

Salem, who is currently undersecretary of the parliamentary tourism committee, is a member of For Support of Egypt, the main pro-Sisi parliamentary bloc.

The bloc's spokesperson, MP Alaa Abdel-Moneim, has denounced the incident and demanded the ministry open an immediate investigation.

"The assault against any citizen in any police station is something we completely reject," said Abdel-Moneim in a Friday statement, adding that For Support of Egypt also rejected any kind of insult or assault on any Egyptian citizen.

Abdel-Moneim said that the incident would be discussed in parliament on Sunday.

The interior ministry will issue a statement about the incident soon, according to the security source that spoke with Al-Ahram.

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