Egypt: 9 policemen jailed for torturing fish vendor to death

Abu Dhabi: A Cairo criminal court has sentenced nine policemen to three years in prison for torturing a fish vendor to death in police custody at Cairo’s Al Amiriya police station late in 2016, local media reported.

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The court acquitted the tenth and last defendant in the case of charges.

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The policemen were referred to the criminal court over causing the death of 53-year-old Magdy Makeen after he was arrested during a brawl with a policeman.

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A judicial source said that Makeen was arrested for possession of drugs.

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An autopsy report by the state’s forensic medicine authority following the incident said the post-mortem examination revealed Makeen had been subject to torture, prosecutors added.

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The policemen denied physically assaulting Makeen or the two other people who were arrested with him.

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The interior ministry has stated that such violations represent isolated incidents, while critics believe that policemen act with impunity against some citizens.

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In 2017, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi pledged to hold accountable policemen guilty of “violations” after a series of deaths in police custody, allegedly caused by torture, sparked public outcry.