The Cairo Criminal Court on Monday sentenced fugitive policeman Mohamed Abdel Moneim, known as Mohamed al-Sunni, to ten years in prison for killing demonstrators during the uprising. This is the fourth sentence against Sunni, who has already been handed the death penalty twice and life imprisonment once, and who has described himself as a "scapegoat" for the authorities.
The police officer is accused of shooting protesters outside Zawya al-Hamra police station in Cairo on 28 January. However, the policeman has been in hiding since the charges were brought against him.
According to an interview with Al-Ahram newspaper earlier in the year, Abdel Moneim claims he is being used as a scapegoat by the police and the Interior Ministry. His lawyer claims that he was not issued with live bullets on the day, and that the killing was mainly carried out by snipers on the roof of the police station.
Meanwhile, the Al-Zaher Court of Appeal has postponed to 12 December the case against Major General Saeed Hussein Moussa, who was responsible for communications at the Central Security Forces during the uprising. He is accused of destroying CDs that implicated senior Interior Ministry figures in the killing of demonstrators.
In Alexandria, a court hearing a case on the killing of demonstrators witnessed clashes between the families of the victims and the police.
A lawyer for the families requested the court detain police officer Mostafa al-Daly, who is accused in the case, so as to appease public opinion. When the defense team of the accused challenged the request, the families of the victims tried to break the caged doc where the accused was being held.
Police officers fired in the air to disperse the family members.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
