Egyptian Police officers dragged an engineer from his home at night and took him to the police station, mistaking him for an ex-convict accused of beating his cellmate.
After spending a night in jail, he was referred to prosecutors in the morning on charges of aggravated assault. He allegedly bludgeoned his former cellmate during a bloody fight over some stolen goods.
But the respected engineer told them that he had never been in jail, according to the Egyptian Gazette on Saturday. Prosecutors soon realized that Ali Lotfi Ali’s only 'crime' was that his name was identical to the ex-convict the police were seeking.
Prosecutors released him and continued the search for the real culprit, said the report. The paper claims that many innocent people have faced the nightmare of arrest, police interrogation, jail sentences “or even sent to the gallows” just because their names were identical to those of criminals. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
