Witnesses in activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh’s murder acquitted

An appeals court acquitted 17 Popular Socialist Alliance Party members on Saturday who had been accused of violating the protest law and threatening national security, according to the party’s Facebook page.

The 17 defendants in the case had been acquitted and underwent a second trial following an appeal by the prosecution in May.

Thirteen of the defendants attended the court session and were taken into custody before the court announced their acquittal.

The trial dates back to a symbolic march with flowers that was organized by the party on January 24, 2015, in Tahrir Square to commemorate the martyrs of the revolution.

The police opened fire on the small gathering, killing 32-year old Shaimaa al-Sabbagh. In June, the police officer accused of killing Sabbagh was sentenced to 15 years in maximum security prison.

The defense in the case argued that what took place on that day does not constitute a protest.

Eleven of the defendants had been added to the case after voluntarily testifying in the case as eyewitnesses, including lawyer Azza Soliman, who had been dining in a nearby restaurant at the time of the incident.

On her Facebook page, Soliman commented on the verdict, asserting that it serves as a lesson to the prosecution, the police and all of the remnants of Mubarak’s regime, and a proof that there’s still hope.