This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26626367
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Egypt police convicted over detainee tear-gas deaths | Egypt police convicted over detainee tear-gas deaths |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A court in Cairo has convicted four Egyptian policemen over the deaths of 37 Islamist detainees last August. | A court in Cairo has convicted four Egyptian policemen over the deaths of 37 Islamist detainees last August. |
| Deputy chief of Heliopolis police station Lt Col Amr Farouk was sentenced to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and extreme negligence. | Deputy chief of Heliopolis police station Lt Col Amr Farouk was sentenced to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and extreme negligence. |
| The other three officers were given one-year suspended sentences. | The other three officers were given one-year suspended sentences. |
| The detainees died as a result of asphyxiation when tear gas was fired into the back of a vehicle transporting 45 of them to a prison outside Cairo. | The detainees died as a result of asphyxiation when tear gas was fired into the back of a vehicle transporting 45 of them to a prison outside Cairo. |
| Security officials initially said the detainees had rioted and captured a guard while en route to Abu Zabal prison on 18 August, causing the officers to respond by firing tear gas into the vehicle. | Security officials initially said the detainees had rioted and captured a guard while en route to Abu Zabal prison on 18 August, causing the officers to respond by firing tear gas into the vehicle. |
| However, prosecutors found no evidence to support the claim and that the vehicle transporting them was designed to carry only 24 detainees. | However, prosecutors found no evidence to support the claim and that the vehicle transporting them was designed to carry only 24 detainees. |
| Crowd-control experts said at the time that the detainees would have died in agony, gasping for air and incapable of resisting the guards. | Crowd-control experts said at the time that the detainees would have died in agony, gasping for air and incapable of resisting the guards. |
| 'Unjust' | |
| The BBC's Orla Guerin, who was outside the court on Tuesday, says there was an angry and emotional reaction to the verdict from relatives of some of the dead. | |
| One weeping father said he was concerned that the 10-year sentence handed down to Col Farouk might be reduced on appeal. | |
| He said his son was an innocent man who had died a terrible death, and that he and his wife had effectively died with him. | |
| Human rights campaigners say Egypt's police operate in a climate of immunity and are rarely punished for abuses, our correspondent adds. | |
| The deaths of the sparked international condemnation, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying he was "deeply disturbed" by the events. | |
| They took place four days after almost 1,000 people were killed when security forces cleared two sit-ins in Cairo by supporters of President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the military in July. | |
| Thousands of Islamists have since been detained, among them Mr Morsi and other senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, who are being tried on a variety of charges including inciting murder and conspiring with foreign organisations to spread chaos throughout Egypt. |