LONDON: A petition has been set up demanding the release of a British businessman arrested in Egypt accused of sexual assault after “patting a male airport security guard on the back.”
The online petition on change.org calling for Tony Camoccio to be released had reached 4,000 signatures by Friday.
Camoccio, 51, was reportedly arrested at the country’s Hurghada International Airport on Feb. 8 during a security check while traveling back to the UK after a holiday with his wife and some friends.
The British man’s relatives and friends says he is being falsely accused of sexual assault, and claim he merely patted the security officer.
The description of the petition reads: “At customs in Hurghada airport on his outbound journey, (Tony) was at final checkpoint where he was, as a standard procedure for all outbound passengers, patted down by a security officer.
“Tony then gently patted the officer’s back, and is now facing serious accusations.
“He was held in a general population cell overnight where he remained in handcuffs, petrified for his life as he did not know what he was supposedly being charged with or what he had done wrong.
“His basic human rights were being abused and these are false accusations.”
Egyptian officials say that Camoccio was caught on CCTV making sexual gestures at the officer.
“We checked with the police surveillance system – the passenger molested the police officer who was checking him at security. When this was investigated, they checked CCTV and saw that what the policeman said is true,” said Samia Mossad, a manager at the airport.
The UK’s Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with Camoccio’s family and the relevant authorities in Egypt.
Petition launched for UK man accused of sexual assault for ‘patting’ male officer in Egypt
https://arab.news/9325x
Petition launched for UK man accused of sexual assault for ‘patting’ male officer in Egypt
- Camoccio, 51, was reportedly arrested at the country’s Hurghada International Airport
- Egyptian officials say that Camoccio was caught on CCTV
35 have been killed and 1,200 held in Iran’s economic protests
- Demonstrations show no sign of stopping
- Govt acknowledges hardships, urges dialogue
DUBAI: The death toll in violence surrounding protests in Iran has risen to at least 35 people, activists said on Tuesday, as the demonstrations showed no signs of stopping.
The figure came from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which said more than 1,200 people have been detained in the protests, which have been ongoing for more than a week.
It said 29 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces,
The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported late on Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations.
The authorities have acknowledged the economic hardships but accused networks linked to foreign powers of stoking the protests.
On Tuesday, Iran’s police chief vowed to “deal with the last of these rioters.”
The shopkeepers’ protest continued on Tuesday in the bazaar, with about 150 people focusing on economic demands, Fars reported.
The protests have spread to some cities in western and southern Iran but do not match the scale of unrest that swept the nation in 2022-23 over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody for violating Iran’s dress code.
However, even though smaller, these protests have quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting against the country’s clerical rulers.
The police chief, Ahmadreza Radan, was quoted on Tuesday by state media as saying they had drawn a distinction between protesters and rioters, the latter facing arrests on site or following identification by intelligence units.
“I pledge that we will deal with the last of these rioters. It is still time for those who were deceived by foreign services to identify themselves and draw on the Islamic Republic’s greatness,” Radan said.
Fars said Tuesday’s gathering of shopkeepers on Saadi street in Tehran ended without “expanding the police’s presence.”
Mohammad, 63, a jewelry shop owner in the bazaar, said there was a heavy presence of riot police and plainclothes security forces inside and around the area.
“They were forcing shopkeepers who were on strike to open their shops. I did not see it myself, but I heard there were clashes outside the bazaar and police fired tear gas,” he said by phone.
Footage shared on Telegram on Tuesday appeared to show dozens of security forces on motorbikes patrolling the street and the unidentified person who took the clip can be heard saying the security forces had fired tear gas.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has promised reforms to help stabilize the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power.
The government has announced a subsidy reform, removing preferential currency exchange rates for importers in favor of direct transfers to Iranians to boost their purchasing power for essential goods. The measure will come into force on Jan. 10.
The central bank chief was also replaced on Dec. 29.
The rial fell further to 1,489,500 on Tuesday, representing a 4 percent fall since the protests started.
