Egypt confirms jail terms for police over activist death

The two men were accused of police brutality in the 2010 death of activist Khaled Said, who died outside an internet cafe in Alexandria.

CAIRO // An Egyptian court on Wednesday upheld a 10-year prison sentence imposed on two policemen for torturing an activist to death in 2010.

The incident triggered the uprising that toppled former autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Witnesses and rights groups said Khaled Said, 28, died after police beat him outside an internet cafe in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Activists launched an online campaign against police brutality that morphed into nationwide marches calling for the dissolution of parliament and the disbanding of the state security agency.

The policemen were sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011, but a court cancelled the ruling after an appeal and ordered a retrial.

They were sentenced again to 10 years in March last year, an order that the cassation court finalised on Wednesday following an appeal.

Rights groups accused the police of widespread torture during Mubarak’s rule.

Activists say security forces have committed further abuses since the army ousted president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. Authorities deny the accusations.

Said’s sister, Zahraa, was not satisfied with the sentence.

“When people are jailed for five or ten years for protesting and ten years for beating someone to death, this does not deserve to be called justice,” she said.

A law banning protests without a police permit has seen scores of people arrested in recent months, including many leading lights of the 2011 uprising against Mubarak.

Prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was sentenced to five years in jail last month for violating the limits on protests.

* Reuters