Egyptian detectives charged with sodomising suspect

CAIRO, Nov 11 (Reuters) Egyptian prosecutors have charged two police detectives with sodomising a suspect in a drugs case in the Nile Delta and are investigating a third officer suspected of taking part, prosecution sources said today.

The police report on the case quotes the suspect, 27-year-old Ahmed Sayed Hussein, as saying the detectives in Kalyoubia province tied him up with ropes, thrashed him with a belt and sodomised him with their hands.

The prosecutors referred Hussein to a medical examination, which confirmed damage to his body and to his anus, it said.

Hussein was detained in the town of Kanatir, near Cairo, two months ago and did not report the alleged abuse until he saw media reports of a Cairo court sentencing two policemen to three years in prison for sodomising a man with a stick.

Last week's verdict ended a trial which came to symbolise what human rights group say is widespread abuse and torture in Egyptian police stations.

The government says it opposes torture and prosecutes policemen if it has evidence of wrongdoing.

The Interior Ministry's media office said it had no information on the case.

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