Friday 25 June 2010

Khaled Said RIP

Egypt is one of the biggest recipients of Western aid, military supplies and support. Lots of people go on holiday there.

It's also a brutal, repressive dictatorship.

This was Khaled Said:


This is Khaled Said too, but dead:



and this is how he got like this:

Numerous witnesses say Khaled Said, 28, died after being kicked and punched by the officers before eventually smashing his head against a marble shelf in an internet cafe on 6 June . Security officials claim Said died of asphyxiation after he swallowed a packet of narcotics hidden under his tongue.
The officers dragged Said into their car and drove off, before returning to dump his body on the street in front of the cafe, the witnesses said.
Human Rights Watch called for the prosecution of the two officers, who remain on active duty. The campaign group also criticised the police investigation and the interior ministry, which accused Said of being a wanted criminal, an accusation his family denies.
"Even if Khaled Said had been wanted, that does not give licence to police to attack and murder him in cold blood," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for the organisation. 
This is what happens if you're a friend of the West - you can do what you want. Just ask any Saudi Arabian woman, Palestinian, Western Saharan or Diego Garcian (and any black South African until the Soviet Union collapsed and the West no longer needed apartheid SA's services) if human rights and democracy are universal.

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