Egypt’s former Minister of Interior, Habib al-Adly, has been charged with aiding the murder and the attempted murder of hundreds of protesters during Egypt’s 18-day uprising at the end of January and beginning of February.
Egypt’s public prosecutor brought the charges against al-Adly, four of his aides, and sixteen senior police officers on Wednesday. Al-Adly and the others were referred to the criminal court, which will set a date for their trials soon.
Public Prosecutor Abdoul Maguid Mahmoud said al-Adly, who is already in prison over other charges including money laundering, and the heads of state, public and central security agencies aided the killing of demonstrators during the revolution, reported the Associated Press.
“They killed and wounded a number of citizens as they protested peacefully in these provinces,” Mahmoud said in a statement released to official media.
In addition, around 16 officers and policemen in 11 other Egyptian provinces and cities were also charged.
The charges are the first to be made by the caretaker government to hold former officials accountable for the killing of protestors during the massive uprising which toppled former president Hosni Mubarak from power on February 11.
Earlier, a fact-finding committee set up to investigate violence against demonstrators charged Mubarak and al-Adly with “intentionally killing protesters.”