Heliopolis Misdemeanor Court of Appeals has upheld the two-year prison sentence for owner of a cafe in Heliopolis, its manager and a worker for illegally detaining clients which lead to the death of Mahmoud Bayoumi in February.
In the previous session, the suspects' defense pleaded for the verdict against them to be nullified, claiming that the cafe has more than 20 exits.
Investigations conducted previously by the Heliopolis Prosecution mentioned that Bayoumi was watching the Egypt-Cameroon soccer match with 12 others of his friends. Once the match was over, the waiters told everyone at the café that no one can leave the coffee shop until each and every one pays their bill.
Osama al-Naggar, owner of the cafe, mentioned during the previous session that he was sitting with Sheikh Mazhar Shahin on the first floor when the incident took place.
Naggar said the manager tried to calm the clients after a verbal dispute occurred between the workers and the defendant. He also added that the defendant’s fiancée said she did not see the owner when the incident took place.
"After the match was over, they locked a small glass door while we were upstairs at the café. Bayoumi opposed this conduct, and kept saying that locking customers inside the place is unacceptable and is an act of thuggery," 27-year-old eye-witness Passant Thapet recounted, adding that Bayoumi was saying that it was getting late and he still had to drive his fiancée home.
One of the workers was referred to the Criminal Court for stabbing the victim, while the owner and the manager were referred to the Misdemeanor Court
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
