Clashes in Cairo after death of man in police custody

Clashes between protesters and policemen erupted yesterday outside a Cairo police station after the death of a man in custody, security sources said.

The protesters burnt 10 cars, including three police vehicles.

Nine people were injured and 40 arrested in the overnight clashes in Cairo’s Moqattam district, where protesters threw petrol bombs and police responded with tear gas and birdshot.

The security sources said a young man nicknamed Afroto, who was arrested on Friday for alleged drug trafficking, died after a brawl with other detainees.

Protesters accused the police of responsibility for his death.

They set fire to tyres and cars near the police station.

Calm returned to Moqattam later in the morning after Cairo’s security chief pledged an investigation into the detainee’s death, promising not to obscure any police involvement.

Prosecutors examined the body and ordered an autopsy.

Egypt has tried and sentenced several officers for causing deaths of prisoners in their custody.

Human rights groups have denounced alleged torture and deaths in detention.

Egypt’s interior ministry has said it does not condone torture and said there have been “individual” cases of abuses.

Police abuses fuelled the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak and ushered in years of political instability.