CAIRO: A military court sentenced Tahrir protester Mohamed Gad El-Rab, known as "Sambo," to five years in prison Thursday on charges of using violence against a police officer and stealing his gun.
Sambo, 26, was arrested from his home in Sharabeya three days after violent clashes in Tahrir Square between protesters and police forces, which left more than 300 injured on June 28 and 29.
"The court has not listened to prosecution or defense witnesses and issued the verdict arbitrarily," Sambo’s lawyer, Ahmed Hossam from the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, told Daily News Egypt on Thursday.
Sambo was arrested after a photo of him holding a gun was circulated on social networking websites. Sambo said he found the gun and handed it to a worker inside Omar Makram Mosque, who then handed it over to police.
Sambo’s lawyer tried to present the worker to testify but the court declined to listen to his testimony, as well as the testimony of the police officer who claims that Sambo had stolen his gun.
"We are going to appeal against the verdict, hoping that we will be able to present our defense witness," Hossam added.
