CAIRO, June 7 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court of appeal overturned Saturday the 10-year sentence handed to a policeman over responsibility for the killing of 37 pro-Muslim Brotherhood detainees last year, official MENA news agency reported.
In mid-March, deputy chief of Helipolis police station was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three other officers were given one-year suspended sentences for the death of the 37 Islamist detainees stuffed in a police vehicle to be transferred to Abou Zaabal Prison in Qalyubiya province last August.
The 37 died of suffocation of tear gas thrown into the police vehicle transferring them to prison.
The victims were allegedly supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who protested against his military overthrow.
The Interior Ministry then said that the transferred prisoners died of suffocation of tear gas fired by the security forces who were in a state of self-defense against militants who blocked their way.
However, one of the survived prisoners told the prosecutor that the van was overloaded and it stopped many times, which triggered uproar inside the vehicle and then the policemen used tear gas.
Last August, few weeks after the military removed Morsi in response to mass protests, the security forces launched a massive crackdown on Morsi's supporters that left more than 1,000 killed and thousands others arrested.
|
