(Photo By: Ahmed Arab)
Egypt’s Court of Cassation annulled the 15-years in prison sentence against a police officer accused of killing citizen Sayed Belal, who was tortured to death in 2011, ordering a retrial in the case.
The court accepted Wednesday the appeal filed by the National Security officer Osama Al-Konaisy after it turned down in March 2014 a challenge from Al-Konaisy to stop the sentence, state media reported.
Belal, a Salafi, was tortured to death by State Security Investigations Service officers and forced to confess to taking part in a 2011 Alexandria church bombing, according to investigations.
During New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2011, a car bomb went off outside Two Saints Church in Alexandria, killing 23 people and injuring 97. State Security arrested Belal and blamed him for the attack but failed to produce any evidence.
Alexandria Criminal Court sentenced Al-Konaisy in April 2013 to 15 years in maximum security prison and ordered EGP 10,000 in compensation for the killing of Belal.
The court found Al-Konaisy guilty of being an accomplice to the murder as well as unlawfully arresting and torturing Belal.
Al-Konaisy was sentenced in absentia to life in prison back in December 2012 but handed himself in and appealed the verdict.
