Current interior minister capable of reforming police: FJP Deputy Head

FJP's Essam El-Erian condemns recent torture and deaths at hands of police but says minister of interior capable of meeting revolution's goal of reforming the institution

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Deputy Head Essam El-Erian expressed his sorrow over the deaths of the two protesters, Mohamed El-Gendy and Mohamed El-Qorany (known as Kristy), and the beating of Hamada Saber on Friday but said the current Interior Minister was capable of reforming police.
“The repeated incidents, of which the latest was the beating of Hamada and the death of El-Gendy and Kristy, and in which police officers are accused of killing and torturing cannot be ignored and should not be accepted by any human being and should be considered a violation of the constitution and the law,” said El-Erian using his facebook page.
El-Erian further demanded an investigation within the ministry of interior to hold those responsible accountable and punish anyone found to have violated the constitution, the law and rules.
“Reforming and purging of the police was one of the main goals of the January revolution and still is because Egypt is in dire need for security but not on behalf of the freedoms and dignity of citizens.”
However, El-Erian said such a task is difficult for a police that has long based its policy on “defending the ruler at the expense of the people," but expressed his belief that the current interior minister is capable of leading such a change within the police institution.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which President Mohamed Morsi hails, had come under strong criticism from rights groups for the failure to restructure the police, which was known under Hosni Mubarak for its use of excessive violence.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) had released last month a report documenting 16 cases of police violence in which 11 people were killed and 10 tortured inside police stations since Morsi became president.