The Dokki Misdemeanors Court on Tuesday sentenced Mohsen Shaalan, head of the Culture Ministry's fine arts department, along with ten other ministry employees that had worked at Cairo's Mahmoud Khalil Museum, to three years of hard labor and fined them LE10,000 each for "negligence" resulting in the theft of a famous Van Gogh painting in August.
Prior to the sentencing, defendants' relatives were asked to leave the courtroom, with only lawyers and media personnel allowed to remain. After hearing the verdict, the defendants stood shocked and silent.
Following the sentencing, the defendants were immediately escorted back to their jail cells.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
