Assault charges dismissed against NYC man who said he was beaten by Egyptian officials

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped assault charges against a protester who said he was dragged off a Manhattan street by Egyptian government officials, beaten and whipped with a metal chain and then wrongly arrested by New York City police.

Yasin El Sammak, 22, and his 15-year-old brother had faced assault and strangulation charges following the altercation, which unfolded last month during a small pro-Palestinian protest outside an Egyptian diplomatic building.

Those charges against El Sammak were dismissed Wednesday by prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, who said the evidence did not support the police department’s contention that he was the aggressor in the incident. His younger brother’s charges were previously sealed in family court.

“I’m relieved the truth came out and my charges have been dropped,” El Sammak told The Associated Press. “At the same, I’m deeply disappointed in the betrayal of the NYPD and how long it took for something that was so clear to everyone — my innocence — to be made official.”

Video recordings taken by El Sammak and another activist at the scene appeared to support the brothers’ account that they were the victims, rather than the perpetrators, of the attack.

Footage showed Egyptian government officials angrily confronting the pair on a sidewalk, then hauling them behind the glass doors of the building. Once inside, the officials could be seen pummeling the brothers and repeatedly striking them with a metal chain.

El Sammak said they also used his keffiyeh — a Palestinian head scarf — to choke him “to the point that I was being suffocated,” leaving him with deep bruises around his neck.

Police arrived quickly to break up the confrontation. But as the brothers tried to explain what happened, the NYPD officers “ignored us,” El Sammak said, instead heeding the Egyptian officials’ request to have them arrested.

The NYPD later said it was El Sammak who used the chain on one of the officials, leaving him with “swelling and substantial pain to his hands.” El Sammak has vehemently denied that allegation.

The department also initially declined to accept a police report from El Sammak’s lawyer, arguing the charges were outside of their jurisdiction. They later accepted the report, but have not made any additional arrests.

An emailed inquiry to the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations, where the episode occurred, was not returned.

Under international law, diplomatic officials receive immunity from certain criminal prosecutions. A spokesperson for the police department did not say whether those protections factored into the decision not to charge the Egyptian officials.

The dismissal of charges comes just days ahead of the start of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

It follows a wave of protests at Egyptian diplomatic buildings in Europe and elsewhere to demand the country allow humanitarian aid through the border crossing with the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Egyptian officials have denied blocking aid and sharply condemned the demonstrations.