Khaled Mohamed Saeed ( ar, خالد محمد سعيد ; 27 January 1982 – 6 June 2010) was an Egyptian man whose death in police custody in the
Sidi Gaber
Sidi Gaber ( ar, سيدي جابر) is a neighbourhood in Alexandria, Egypt.
The interior section of the neighborhood contains the Sidi Gaber railway station, the main rail entry point to Alexandria for most travelers. The station is one of the ...
area of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
on 6 June 2010 helped incite the
Egyptian Revolution of 2011
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
. Photos of his disfigured corpse spread throughout online communities and incited outrage over the fact that he was beaten to death by Egyptian security forces. A prominent
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
group, "We are all Khaled Said", moderated by
Wael Ghonim
Wael Ghonim ( ar, وائل غنيم, Wā'il Ghunīm. born 23 December 1980) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
In 2011, he became an international figure and galvanized pro-democracy demo ...
, brought attention to his death and contributed to growing discontent in the weeks leading up to the
Egyptian Revolution of 2011
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
. In October 2011, two Egyptian police officers were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison for beating Saeed to death.
They were granted a retrial and sentenced to ten years in prison on 3 March 2014.
Personal life
Saeed was raised by his mother and the rest of his extended family after the death of his father when he was young. Showing an interest in computers, he lived and studied
computer programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...
for some time in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. He also loved music and had been composing a musical piece before his death.
Death
On 6 June 2010, Saeed had been sitting on the second floor of a
cybercafe. Two detectives from the
Sidi Gaber
Sidi Gaber ( ar, سيدي جابر) is a neighbourhood in Alexandria, Egypt.
The interior section of the neighborhood contains the Sidi Gaber railway station, the main rail entry point to Alexandria for most travelers. The station is one of the ...
police station entered the premises and arrested him.
Multiple witnesses testified that Saeed was beaten to death by the police, who reportedly hit him and smashed him against objects as he was led outside to their police car. The owner of the internet cafe in which Saeed was arrested stated that he witnessed Saeed being beaten to death in the doorway of the building across the street after the detectives took him out of the cafe at the owner's request.
In a filmed interview posted online by a leading opposition party, cafe owner Hassan Mosbah described the beating. "They dragged him to the adjacent building and banged his head against an iron door, the steps of the staircase and walls of the building... Two doctors happened to be there and tried in vain to revive him but (the police) continued beating him... They continued to beat him even when he was dead." This description given by the owner was confirmed by the
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, a ...
.
The police reported that Saeed suffocated in an attempt to swallow a packet of
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
, a claim supported by two autopsy reports made by Forensic Authorities. The police further stated that Saeed was "wanted for theft and weapons possession and that he resisted arrest".
Later evidence however revealed that the hashish was forced down Saeed’s throat in order for the police to falsely accuse Saeed of illegally possessing and consuming hashish.
Former chief medical examiner of Egypt, Ayman Fouda, was interviewed about the proper procedure that should have been followed for Saeed's autopsy. He stated that the "mechanics of the injuries" that Saeed had sustained should have been investigated and his brain should have also been tested to see whether he had sustained a
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
. The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy had done neither.
The two police officers were later jailed for four days pending questioning on beatings that they carried out on Saeed. Saeed's family members stated that Saeed was "tortured to death for possessing video material that implicates members of the police in a drug deal".
Post-mortem photographs go viral
When Saaed's family visited his body in the morgue, his brother snapped pictures of the corpse using his mobile phone. The photo of Saeed's corpse was released onto the internet by Saeed's family in June 2010, causing a large outcry.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
released a press report about the photo that stated, "Photos of Said's battered and deformed face published on the internet show a fractured skull, dislocated jaw, broken nose, and numerous other signs of trauma" and that the image clearly showed "strong evidence that plainclothes security officers beat him in a vicious and public manner".
''We are all Khaled Saeed''
Among those who saw the photo was Google marketing executive
Wael Ghonim
Wael Ghonim ( ar, وائل غنيم, Wā'il Ghunīm. born 23 December 1980) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
In 2011, he became an international figure and galvanized pro-democracy demo ...
. Ghonim was located in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
at the time of the incident and decided to create a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
memorial page for Said, called "We are all Khaled Said" within five days of his death. The page attracted hundreds of thousands of followers, becoming Egypt's biggest dissident Facebook page.
Support for Said rapidly spread,
[ with many Facebook members using his photograph for their own profiles. In mid-June, the Facebook page had already 130,000 members that were active. Because of the photo and the heavy amount of international criticism that arose from the incident, the Egyptian government consented to a trial for the two detectives involved in his death.
On 27 January 2011, Ghonim was arrested for 12 days. Egypt also blocked nearly all access to the internet throughout the country. Ghonim wanted to remain anonymous but could not avoid Egyptian security forces. It later became apparent that Ghonim recruited an Egyptian political activist named AbdulRahman Mansour to become his co-admin. Both administrators received the credit for the creation of the site. Under the anonymous name ''el shaheed'' ("the martyr"), they were able to post and moderate the Arabic Facebook page. The involvement of Mansour in the creation of this page caused great controversy because he was a member of the 25 January coalition as well as the author of an article on the Muslim Brotherhood's English website titled "Mastermind Behind Egypt Uprising."] In a 2011 interview, Ghonim blamed the regime for the people's anger, saying that blocking access to Facebook made them even angrier and led them to protests in the streets.
The administrator's role in running this page, according to Iskander, included a number of important functions, such as being: "the gatekeeper, flag bearer, spokesperson, democrat, motivator, mobilizer, and the source of general inspiration and appeal for the page. In addition to being the liaison between members, the admin is also the link and mediator between the members and the architecture of the page, which in this case is Facebook as an organization. His/her task is to keep everyone energized and inspiringly engaged."
The profile photograph promoting the page was a smiling photograph of Khaled Saeed which conveyed his youth and innocence. The Facebook page existed in both Arabic and English, ensuring international exposure. Police forces were put under the spotlight because the webpage was advocating the fight against police brutality. By doing this, police forces became hesitant with their actions knowing that the Facebook page was being used to document their flaws and overuse of force.
Alexandria protests
On 25 June 2010, Mohamed ElBaradei
Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei ( ar, محمد مصطفى البرادعي, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá al-Barādaʿī, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July ...
, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
, led a rally in Alexandria against abuses by the police and visited Saeed's family to offer condolences. Protests over Saeed's death also occurred in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
's Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
and in front of the Egyptian Embassy in London. Thirty of the protesters in Tahrir Square were arrested by Central Security officers after the "security personnel vigorously beat back the crowds to keep them from reaching the ministry building."
Impact on the 2011 Egyptian revolution
One of the earliest pre-revolution articles to link the death of Saeed to an imminent nationwide explosion came from Saeed's neighbor, Egyptian-Australian Amro Ali. In an opinion piece title
"Egypt's Collision Course with History"
Ali writes an intimate portrayal of Saeed and the Alexandria context, as well as the ramifications of his death for the regime. Ali states "Saeed's tragedy is Egypt's tragedy. A young man, neither a political activist nor religious radical, but an ordinary Egyptian whose accused actions could not in any way warrant his lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
. Saeed was someone's son, someone's brother, someone's friend, someone's neighbour, someone's customer, and if not for what had happened, someone's future. Saeed was, in the local vernacular, a son of Cleopatra aeed's suburb Yet the system that was supposed to protect him and give him his rights, took away those rights by taking away his life... It is one extra nail in the coffin of the ever-widening gulf between the ruler and ruled... What the Egyptian establishment maybe forgetting... is that pigeons come home to roost more than once." Ali would later publish a personal and analytical account in Jadaliyya on the second anniversary of Saeed's death
"Saeeds of Revolution: De-Mythologizing Khaled Saeed"
As well as analysing what really happened to Saeed, Ali also examines the dynamics of how Saeed was rapidly mythologized and the ramifications it has produced in Egyptian society.
While the actual impact of Ghonim's site cannot be determined,[ it was Ghonim who first published a call to protest on 25 January, to the followers of his blog, and protesters carried banners and posters displaying the photograph of Saaed's corpse.] This has been named one of the catalysts of the 2011 Egyptian protests
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
, as an instance in which people formed a community around opposition to police brutality and, by extension, other government abuses. On 11 February 2011, these protests resulted in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
after 30 years in power. ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
characterized Saaed in his morgue photo as "The Face That Launched a Revolution".[ ''The Washington Post'' wrote that "Had it not been for a leaked morgue photo of his mangled corpse, tenacious relatives and the power of Facebook, the death of Khaled Said would have become a footnote in the annals of Egyptian police brutality. Instead, outrage over the beating death of the 28-year-old man in this coastal city last summer, and attempts by local authorities to cover it up, helped spark the mass protests demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak."
]
Investigation and trial of the police officers
The investigation into Saeed's death yielded 300 papers, analysis and testimony which informed the decision to charge both police officers, Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismael Suleiman, in criminal court with use of violence and unjustified detention of the victim. They were detained in July 2010 and the trial began that same month, but was then postponed until February 2011, at which point it was postponed again.
On 24 September 2011, Alexandria's criminal court adjourned the trial until 22 October 2011 as Judge Moussa al-Nahrawy decided to postpone the case to allow both the plaintiff's and the defendants' lawyers to review the report of a third forensic committee, whose formation the court had ordered in June 2011.
On 26 October 2011, both defendants were found guilty of manslaughter and were sentenced to seven years. Human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
s, such as the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, a ...
, objected to the short sentences. The two officers were convicted of using excessive force which killed Saeed but were not convicted of the more serious charge of "torture with the purpose of killing" which is a capital crime
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. Organizations such as the April 6 Youth Movement
The April 6 Youth Movement ( ar, حركة شباب 6 أبريل) is an Egyptian activist group established in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on 6 April.
Activists calle ...
and the 25 Revolution Youth Union also criticized the verdict for its leniency
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religi ...
. The prosecution and defence both appealed the sentence and a retrial was ordered. On 3 March 2014, Alexandria criminal court increased the punishment by three years sentencing the two police officers to ten years in prison.[
]
See also
* Death of Neda Agha-Soltan
Neda Agha-Soltan ( fa, ندا آقاسلطان – ''Nedā Āghā-Soltān''; 23 January 1983 – 20 June 2009) was an Iranian student of philosophy, who was participating in the 2009 Iranian election protests with her music teacher, an ...
* Death of Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb
Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb ( ar, حمزة علي الخطيب; October 24, 1997 – May 25, 2011) was a 13-year-old Syrian boy who died while in the custody of the Syrian government in Daraa. On April 29, 2011, he was detained during a protest. On May ...
* Death of Ali Jawad al-Sheikh
Ali Jawad al-Sheikh ( ar, علي جواد الشيخ) was a 14-year-old Bahraini who died in the hospital on 31 August 2011 after reportedly being hit in the head by a tear gas canister shot by Bahraini security forces during the Bahraini upris ...
* Mohamed Bouazizi
Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi ( ar, طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي, Ṭāriq aṭ-Ṭayib Muḥammad al-Būʿazīzī; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bo ...
References
External links
*
*
We are all Khaled Said
on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saeed, Mohamed Khaled
2010 deaths
2010 in Egypt
Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed
Khaled Mohamed Saeed ( ar, خالد محمد سعيد ; 27 January 1982 – 6 June 2010) was an Egyptian man whose death in police custody in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria on 6 June 2010 helped incite the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Photos ...
Deaths by person in Africa
Egyptian revolution of 2011
People murdered by law enforcement officers
Political repression in Egypt
1982 births
Deaths by beating
Victims of police brutality
Law enforcement in Egypt
History of Alexandria
Police brutality in the 2010s