CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced a police officer to eight years in prison for beating a veterinarian to death, in a case that sparked public anger over police abuses.
The funeral for Afifi Afifi, who was killed in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia in November, triggered protests against police violence. Afifi’s slaying was one of several episodes that prompted President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to offer an apology for police abuses.
Police officer Mohammed Ibrahim was found guilty of beating Afifi to death and fabricating an official document. He also was fined $650 for insulting Afifi’s wife.
Police brutality was one of the main grievances behind the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Rights groups say police have returned to using torture, random arrests and forced disappearances as part of a crackdown on dissent since the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.