Cairo Criminal Court cleared on Wednesday police officers accused of attempted murder and killing protesters in Zawya al-Hamra neighborhood of northern Cairo on 28 January 2011.
After the court issued the not guilty verdict, security guards allowed the parents of defendant Mohamed Abdel Moneim Ibrahim, known as Mohamed al-Sunni, into the courtroom.
Sunni was acquitted along with two other police captains, Ahmed al-Khouly and Alaa Adel Abdel Razeq, of killing two protesters and attempting to murder another two during the revolution last year.
Sunni has faced charges in three separate cases. He was earlier sentenced to 10 years in absentia for the attempted murder of two protesters.
Sunni’s defense team claims the accusations were made against him because he was alone in the police station on that day and is a well-known resident of the neighborhood, where he has lived for 23 years. His lawyer said all the charges should have been included in one trial and reviewed by one judge. However, the prosecution said the cases were prosecuted separately for security reasons.
Sunni still has four trials ahead of him, including a retrial scheduled for 24 March of a murder conviction in absentia for which he was sentenced to the death penalty. The other two trials will take place on 17 April.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
