Egypt arrests parents of university student killed by police

Egyptian authorities yesterday arrested the parents of a former university student, Anas Al-Mahdi, who was killed by the police in 2015.

Former university student, Anas Al-Mahdi, who was killed by the police in 2015

“My parents have been arrested by the Egyptian police,” Al-Mahdi’s sister, Hind, wrote on Facebook.

“I’m not going to talk about my father, who I haven’t yet heard from him, or my brother Abdullah, who was sentenced to spend his entire life in prison, or my other brother Anas who was killed by the Egyptian police,” Hind said, adding: “I’m talking about my mother who bursts into tears once she hears Anas’ name.”

“Over the past three years, my mum has not left the home except to visit Anas’ grave or Abdullah in jail,” Al-Mahdi stressed.

Read: Egypt arrests prominent activist and blogger Wael Abbas

Anas was shot dead by the Egyptian police forces in May 2015 during an anti-military coup protest which was taking place inside the Cairo University compound.

In 2013, the Egyptian army, under the command of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, broke up pro-democracy demonstrations in the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square, killing almost 4,000 people. The massacre took place just weeks after the military coup which brought Al-Sisi to power.