The public prosecution on Monday submitted a request to Alexandria’s Court of Cassation to challenge the ruling issued in the Khaled Saeed case.
On 26 October, the Alexandria Criminal Court sentenced policemen Mahmoud Abou Ghazala and Awad Ismail to seven years in prison after they were indicted for "the unjustified arrest of Saeed, and the use of violence and physical torture." The ruling angered the victim’s family and rights organizations, who considered the penalty incommensurate with the crime. The prosecution has challenged the ruling at the request of Saeed’s family.
Saeed died on 6 June 2010 after being beaten by two policemen, who had arrested him in an internet cafe in Sidi Gaber, Alexandria. He had reportedly been uploading videos onto the internet that showed police officers torturing prisoners.
After the October ruling, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights asked the attorney general to challenge the court ruling and to amend the charges to "torture that led to killing," for which the penalty can be execution. Dozens of protesters and members of political movements staged a protest and put up black flags in front of the court building.
The crime is still of great interest domestically and internationally and was one of the factors that fueled Egypt's 25 January revolution.
