8/2/2013

To weaken the police is to destroy their ability to protect citizens and institutions. The police are needed now more than ever to protect us and our families from the growing number of street thugs whose conduct is increasingly violent and erratic.

As a man brought up with discipline and respect for the law, I am appalled at the current level of contempt for the police. I think back to the 1940s and 50s and remember that if a citizen assaulted a policeman, or even pulled a button off his jacket, the penalty was enough to deter further breeches of respect. We protected the authority of the state and the ability of the police to do their job.

The ministry of interior and the public prosecution must also do their part in improving their images. When it comes to handling protests, especially those that turn into riots, policemen must be given clear instructions on how to differentiate between protestors and thugs.

Then, after the smoke clears, the public prosecutor must provide the public with the results of investigations into both police and criminal conduct during the riots. For example, the prosecutor should give us the results of investigations into deaths that occurred during the anti-verdict riot in Port Said so that we know who killed the protestors and the police. Only then should the government determine to whom it will give restitution.

As for the incident of Hamada Saber, a protester who was shown in a video stripped naked, beaten and dragged by police during an anti-Morsi protest in front of the presidential palace, the Ministry of Interior took a certain amount of responsibility, but not before the defendant recanted his original statement.

Initially, Saber claimed that the protestors attacked him. This account, contradicted by the video, led many to suspect the authorities of coercing Sabr into absolving the police of blame. Perhaps Saber’s original statement was bought with the promise of employment, a strong enticement to a desperate man who was unemployed for several months and unable to find even the most menial of jobs. Finally Sabr reversed his story and told the prosecutor that riot police were responsible for the attack. The Minister of Interior made a formal apology and referred the policemen to the general prosecutor’s office for investigation.

Even after a case such as this, the behavior of five policemen does not give us the right to generalize and judge the entire Egyptian police force.

Instead of retaliating against the police, we must insist that the ruling party encourage Egypt’s homeland security team to find ways to differentiate between the protesters and thugs during clashes. This is not an easy task, even for trained personnel.

At this point in our history, Egypt’s political instability is on the verge of destroying the economy. Are we so unaware of how critical the current situation has become? Have we noticed that the EU is not fulfilling its promises of loans and aid because of the ongoing conflicts and unrest? Has it come to our attention that German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not mention forgiving Egypt’s debt during Morsi’s visit to Germany on Jan 30 as she had earlier suggested?

Tourism once supplied our state budget with billions. Now we must reach out to the International Monetary Fund and the Arab countries that support us “sporadically”. The only way out of this dilemma is to restore stability even if it requires additional security measures.

To encourage the return of tourists and to revive domestic production Egypt must be secure and stable. There is no other way to save our economy from collapsing.

Translated from Al Ahram