The police took disproportionate action in executing an Egyptian father holding his son hostage in Oroklini on May 21st, and ignored previous reports of domestic violence between the man and his wife, said non-government organisation KISA.

The fact that the attorney-general has appointed an independent investigator is positive, said a spokesman for the NGO.

Bad procedure

Although the man requested a lawyer and repeatedly said he would not harm his child, the police ignored him and didn’t call in other specialised support services, according to KISA.

“The information from the police regarding the events that took place before and during the particular police operation is incomplete, contradictory, and misleading,” said the NGO.

Discrepancies

There are several serious discrepancies in the police’s version of events, which must have been extremely confusing and highly emotional.

According to KISA, before the raid on the house, the father wasn’t holding the child, and had also not caused him any injuries. The child’s injury was caused either during the police’s intervention or after it. It seems more likely that the child’s injury happened during the father’s fall to the ground after he was shot, said the NGO.

“The information that the father almost severed the child’s carotid is also inaccurate since the wound is located on the jaw. Using this information, the police tried to support the argument that the child was in imminent danger. This argument by the police provides an excuse for the decision to raid the house given that if they didn’t execute the father, he would have been able to cause the child fatal injury (to the carotid), without the capacity to treat him immediately,” said the NGO.

Execution

In addition to the above, the information from the police regarding the fact that the father was shot by the policemen who broke into the apartment is also false, said KISA. In fact, the spot where the bullet hit the wall of the apartment clearly disproves this:

“Based on the facts we have, R.E. was executed by a sniper – most likely situated on a floor in the block of flats situated opposite the apartment – which shows that the final outcome of the matter had been planned before the Special Counter-terrorism Squad stormed into the house,” said KISA.

“In our opinion, the police’s conclusion that the father was going to kill his child wasn’t reached after a proper and objective evaluation with the participation of specialised professionals (social welfare services, mental health services and members of NGOs) but rather was based on the verbal threats of the father. At this point, it is important to mention that during the incident, R.E. asked for a lawyer, a request that was turned down by the police. Moreover, based on our information, the police didn’t involve other specialised departments of the force in the handling of the incident - departments like the Office for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, which has numerous years of experience in the area.”

“R.E. had never exercised direct violence on his child until that particular day. In fact, according to the information we have collected, he was capable of taking care of his child and exercised parental care on a daily basis,” said the NGO.