Police torture oppn activist to death in Egypt

An Egyptian opposition party on Monday claimed police tortured one of its members to death, electrocuting him and beating him repeatedly on the head — the latest case alleging police brutality in a crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Mohammed el-Gindy, a 28-year-old activist, died of his wounds on Monday at a Cairo hospital after he was “tortured to death,” the Egyptian Popular Current party said in a statement. The Interior Ministry had no immediate comment.

El-Gindy went missing for several days after protesting on January 27 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The protesters are opposed to Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi’s policies and are pressing him to amend the constitution, which was drafted by a panel dominated by Islamists and approved in a public referendum last year.

Party spokeswoman Mona Amer said she saw el-Gindy’s body and that it carried marks of torture.  Mona said he was electrocuted, had broken ribs and a “cord appeared to have been wrapped around his neck.”