Omar Mohammed Ali’s Story On How He was ‘Tortured to Confess’ in Egypt

 

“I sat there till the afternoon until someone else called for me. Another officer started beating me with a thick stick, put it on my genitals and hit me on the head. He also hit me with his legs and hands, and with a thin cable. He started beating me more when he knew that my dad died in Rabaa, and he asked other lower ranked officers in the room to undress me. They took off all of my clothes including my underwear.” – Omar Mohammed Ali

We were taken aback by Omar’s story published on Amnesty this morning. Before he and two of his friends were held in captivity last year by military forces, Omar was an artist studying Architecture. He was a loyal 25Jan activist, proud not to be part of any political parties,  and although his deceased father participated in the sit in at Rabaa square, he joined the 30th of June rallies to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood.

The story of his arrest begins when he was hanging out with two friends in Zamalek’s corniche, having dinner in one of Nile city’s renowned restaurants. When they were on their way out, three figures appeared out of the blue in civilian attire, they asked the group for their ID cards and mobile phones and ordered them to get in a white microbus.

WE SAID THIS: Omar is now spending his life sentence in Tora prison, a sentence that was ruled by a military court this May – a matter that is very strongly debated.