Mohamed Reda

Clashes erupted outside of Cairo University between university students and police forces on November 28th. Mohamed was not participating in the clashes, he was standing at the entrance of his faculty with a group friend waiting for the clashes to end so they could return to their homes. Mohamed was hit by bullets in the chest, stomach, and back at close range. A few of his peers were also injured.
Mohamed’s murder sparked a lot of outrage since the killing of a student on campus was something unheard of even in the worst political crises. The prosecutor opened up an investigation, but after about 3 years since Mohamed’s murder, the case has been shelved due to a lack of conclusive evidence of who the perpetrator was despite the fact that Mohamed’s mother presented photos taken by eyewitnesses at a conference proving that Mohamed Reda, an officer in the Egyptian police, killed Mohamed.  She also stated in her testimony that the forensics report had some inaccuracies. The testimony of the forensics department spokesperson regarding the cause of death changed from one television channel to another, being declared as penetration to the lungs, it was later changed to being hit in the pulmonary artery, and being hit in the aorta.

According to Mohamed’s mother, the eyewitnesses in the case were pressured to refute their statements that prove the involvement of police. Of the witnesses, one that was injured in the clash was threatened with dismissal from university, another, a professor at the Faculty of Engineering named Moataz Al-Aidi fled the country due to pressure, and a third witness who was friends with the deceased was arrested at his home and fled to Turkey to complete his education according to Mohamed’s mother.