ANAHEIM, Calif. — As he walked out of a Cairo electronics store the night of April 24, Abdullah Assem, 17, was met by several police officers who told him he was under arrest for creating an antigovernment rebel group and for shooting at a government security building.
For more than 16 hours, Mr. Assem said, he was handcuffed, blindfolded and forced to sit on the floor of a government building with his legs pulled in front of his chest while passers-by kicked him and called him a traitor.
One man tried to light Mr. Assem’s shirt on fire but was stopped by another man. Later, someone dragged a rope against the youth’s skin and tickled his arm with the edge of a knife, telling him that he might not live.
After spending two weeks in jail, Mr. Assem, a celebrated science prodigy in Egypt, was released and eventually permitted to travel to Los Angeles to participate in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair…
– Additional Coverage –
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