ALEXANDRIA - An Egyptian court on Saturday delayed the trial of two policemen who allegedly beat a young man to death in the city of Alexandria until late October, at the behest of the victim's lawyers.
The death of Khaled Said has sparked outcry and large demonstrations against what thousands have argued is an attempted police cover-up by security forces.
Said died after being questioned by police on June 7 on a street outside an internet cafe in the coastal city of Alexandria.
According to witnesses, the 28-year-old Said was taken from an internet cafe by two policemen who beat him to death and smashed his head against the pavement.
But a government-ordered autopsy claimed that Said died of asphyxiation when he tried to swallow a bag of marijuana and that the injuries sustained during his arrest had not caused his death.
The Egyptian court system rarely sees security forces brought to trial, yet Mahmoud Salah and Awad Suleiman are under arrest and have been charged with the use of excessive force, among other things.
Rights groups have called on the court to add murder to the list of charges the two policemen face.
The victim's lawyers won a request to have the trial postponed until October 23 so that more witnesses could be present, in particular the chief forensic officer who conducted the autopsy, according to the daily al-Masry al-Youm.
