Ammar Al-Beltagi: It took us three days to bury Asma due to the authority’s refusal to grant burial permit

Ammar Al-Beltagi, brother of the martyred activist Asmaa, narrated new details on the aftermath of her death.

“I was outside the Rabaa Square,” he told Al-Jazeera yesterday, “and I was not by sister’s side in her last moments, but I entered the square after she was martyred.”

Ammar confirmed that not all exits were safe, and that most exits were under heavy gunfire from police and army snipers.

Asked whether there were safe exits to transfer the corpse of his dead sister out of the square, Ammar said that he and a number of friends were not able to leave the square with his sister’s corpse until 5pm. He and another friend tried to carry her and leave from behind the Rabaa mosque only to be spotted by a sniper who opened fire at them until the corpse fell on the ground. They had to stand away from the corpse to escape the gunfire.

Moreover, while they were taking cover from the bullets, an armoured vehicle hit the corpse while it was lying on the ground. Soldiers disembarked from the vehicle and entered the square. Only then were Ammar and his friend able to carry Asmaa’s corpse and leave the square.

It took Asmaa’s family three days to bury her due to the authority’s refusal to grant them a burial permit, Ammar said.