Sisi tells interior minister to crack down on abuses by Egyptian police

Cairo: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi told the interior minister on Friday to hold any policeman who attacks citizens to account and to submit proposals to parliament to achieve this goal, the presidency said, as anger mounts over alleged police brutality.
The meeting came a day after a police officer shot dead a man in the street, angering hundreds of people who protested in front of the Cairo security directorate.
A statement from the directorate said the policeman had shot dead a driver after an argument and was forced to flee a mob of local people who attempted to catch and kill him. Police later found the policeman.
Last week, thousands of doctors held a rare protest against police they say beat two doctors at a Cairo hospital for refusing to falsify medical records.
Earlier this month, the body of a missing Italian graduate student was found on the outskirts of Cairo showing signs of torture, including electrocution. Activists said the injuries had the hallmarks of Egyptian security services. The Interior Ministry has denied allegations of involvement in the death.
Anger over perceived police excesses helped fuel the 2011 protests that ended president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and began on a Police Day holiday.
Earlier on Friday, Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abu Bakr Abdel Karim was quoted by the state news agency as saying policemen are not shielded from the law.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Cairo security directorate on Thursday night after the policeman shot dead a man in the street.
Footage posted on social media showed hundreds of people massing outside the security directorate to protest the death.