Clashes between security forces and opposition groups took place Sunday after

evidence that policemen wearing plain clothes beat to death 28 year old Khaled Saeed, who tried to expose police corruption, according to family and internet sources.

Police denied responsibility in Saeed's death, which it claims died of drug overdose. Hundreds of protesters chanting anti-government slogans were quickly surrounded during protests in Alexandria.

Human rights groups state that police torture including sexual abuse is regular in Egypt despite government denials. The three-decade-old emergency law is described as a central tool in repression by President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Unfortunately Cases of police brutality hardly ever result in punishment of the perpetrators.

Amnesty International and other rights groups demanded an independent investigation, and a representative from the organization claimed that the "shocking pictures [of Khaled Saeed] are a rare and firsthand glimpse of the routine use of brutal force by the Egyptian security forces, who expect to operate in a climate of impunity, with no questions asked".

Security apparatus ordered by the Interior ministry has constantly abused the emergency law targeting mainly political opposition including many members of the Muslim Brotherhood.