Six police officers, who are accused of torturing Luxor resident Talaat Shabeb to death, have been sentenced to three to seven years in prison by the Qena Criminal Court.
The six men include a lieutenant, who received 7 years, and five non-commissioned police officers, who each received 5 years hard labour.
According to lawyer Khaled Ali, the court ruled that the Ministry of Interior must compensate Shabeb’s family with EGP 1m.
Seven other police personnel were acquitted of all charges.
Shabeb was arrested in November on suspicion of possessing drugs. He was taken to a Luxor police station, where it is alleged that he was tortured to death.
Shabeb’s case has received the support of human rights organisations and lawyers. Both groups attended the trial in his defence.
The death of Shabeb sparked anger in Luxor, leading to minor protests and demonstrations. More than a dozen protesters were arrested in front of the hospital where Shabeb died.
There have been several cases of people dying in police custody over the past week, causing anger among the general public and prompting police officials to describe such incidents as “isolated incidents” or “individual acts”.
Tuesday’s verdict is one of the few cases in which the Ministry of Interior has been charged with killing civilians by beating them to death.
