Officer accused of torturing suspect to death in 2011 acquitted

The last former State Security Investigations Service (SSIS) officer accused of torturing to death a suspect in the Two Saints Church bombing case in Alexandria in January 2011 was acquitted by the Alexandria Criminal Court on Tuesday. 

The court had sentenced in absentia Hossam al-Shenawy, an officer, to life in prison in June 2012 for taking part in the torture and killing of Sayed Belal, an Alexandria citizen and Salafi activist rounded up in the aftermath of the church bombing that killed 21 people.

Three other officers were also sentenced in absentia, while Mohamed Abdel Rahman al-Sheemy, who was present at the verdict session, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Sheemy and two of the other defendants were found innocent on appeal, making Shenawy the last imprisoned defendant to be relieved of the charges. A fifth defendant  escaped.

The case adds to a long list of police officers found innocent after being charged in cases of torturing and killing protesters over the past five years.

On Sunday the Court of Cassation accepted an appeal request from Lieutenant Yassin Salah Eddin, who is accused of the premeditated shooting to death of activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh. It annulled Salah Eddin’s sentence and recommended dropping "pre-meditation" from the charge.

Hoda Nasrallah, lawyer and research in the criminal justice division of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told Mada Masr it has been difficult to obtain verdicts penalizing police officers on charges of torturing and killing protesters.

No official body monitors torture inside police stations, and in most cases it is not possible to identify the officer who carried out torture, she said, adding that it is easy for the Ministry of Interior to conceal evidence or pressure witnesses to change their testimonies.

Officers from the now-disbanded SSIS arrested Belal early on January 5, 2011, alongside several other Salafis brought in for questioning in relation the Two Saints Church bombing on New Year’s Eve. 

Belal died shortly after being moved from the SSIS headquarters to a medical center. An investigation into his death showed that he suffered extreme injuries due to torture inflicted while in detention. The case sparked outrage, becoming a symbol of police brutality that many credited with catalyzing the January 25 revolution.