Egyptian vigilantes hang 2 men for alleged theft
Source: Agencies |
March 18, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EGYPTIAN vigilantes beat two men accused of stealing a rickshaw, then stripped them half-naked and hung them from a tree in a bus station in a small Nile Delta town yesterday, according to security officials who said both men died.
The killings came a week after the attorney general's office encouraged civilians to arrest lawbreakers and hand them over to police.
It was one of the most extreme cases of vigilantism in two years of sharp deterioration in security following Egypt's 2011 uprising. The worsening security coupled with a police strike prompted the attorney general's call for citizen arrests last week.
The state-run newspaper Ahram reported on its website that the two were dragged in the street after being caught "red-handed" trying to steal a rickshaw. The paper said they were beaten but alive before they were hung.
Ahram reported that police were delayed from reaching the site of the hangings because residents had cut off the roads to protest a shortage of diesel fuel, one of Egypt's many crises.
The scenes in the town of Samanod, about 90 kilometers north of Cairo, were emblematic of the chaos that is sweeping the country, mired in protests over a range of social, economic and political problems and with security breaking down to frightening proportions.
Security officials said those who tried to help free the two men were pushed back by others in a crowd in the small town.
The killings came a week after the attorney general's office encouraged civilians to arrest lawbreakers and hand them over to police.
It was one of the most extreme cases of vigilantism in two years of sharp deterioration in security following Egypt's 2011 uprising. The worsening security coupled with a police strike prompted the attorney general's call for citizen arrests last week.
The state-run newspaper Ahram reported on its website that the two were dragged in the street after being caught "red-handed" trying to steal a rickshaw. The paper said they were beaten but alive before they were hung.
Ahram reported that police were delayed from reaching the site of the hangings because residents had cut off the roads to protest a shortage of diesel fuel, one of Egypt's many crises.
The scenes in the town of Samanod, about 90 kilometers north of Cairo, were emblematic of the chaos that is sweeping the country, mired in protests over a range of social, economic and political problems and with security breaking down to frightening proportions.
Security officials said those who tried to help free the two men were pushed back by others in a crowd in the small town.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
