CAIRO: A criminal court in Mansoura sentenced a police officer to three years in prison and a fine of LE 10,000 ($1,750) after being convicted of murdering a fisherman in Al Manzala Lake, according to a report on Al Youm Al Sabe’ website.
Saad Mohamed Mansour, a water police officer, was found guilty of beating up Ahmed Ahmed Rashad Fayad, a local fisherman near the lake and deliberately throwing him in, which caused him to drown a year ago.
Witnesses said the officer refused to let Fayad’s cousin rescue the dying man. Saad Fayad, the deceased’s cousin, testified that he pled the officer to let him save the victim but he said “let him die.
Eyewitnesses also confirmed that the officer assaulted Fayad and that the deceased could not swim due to the wounds he inflicted and because his clothes were weighing him down.
The court witnessed heavy presence by other fishermen in Manzala who welcomed the verdict.
Police brutality towards civilians has been the subject of public debate over the past two years, despite it being traditionally taboo.
Recently, a pregnant woman in Qena, south of Cairo, died after being allegedly assaulted by a police officer who forced his way into her home in search of her brother-in-law, who was suspected of theft.
A police truck was overturned and set ablaze during an angry protest by residents in the neighborhood where she lived in the city of Samalut.
