An Egyptian court sentenced nine policemen to three years in prison on Tuesday for physically and verbally assaulting two doctors at a Cairo hospital in January, an incident that prompted strikes and a protest demanding justice.
The verdict can be appealed and the court ordered bail of 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($225). The policemen are not in jail.
Momin Abdelazim, one of the two doctors involved, told Reuters at the time that police assaulted him and a colleague after they refused to falsify medical records to say one officer had a serious head injury. Abdelazim said the wound was superficial.
The incident prompted thousands of Egyptian doctors, led by the doctors’ syndicate, to hold strikes and a rare protest demanding the policemen involved be brought to trial and the health minister be sacked. Following the strikes and pressure from the syndicate, prosecutors decided to reopen the case. Some media at the time criticized the doctors, saying they were using the incident for political ends and accusing them of endangering lives through their strike actions.
Egyptian officials say cases of police abuse, including that involving the doctors, are isolated. Officials have repeatedly promised that all allegations would be investigated and punished where appropriate.

30 migrants drown
A boat carrying migrants capsized Wednesday in the Mediterranean off Egypt’s north coast, killing 30 people and triggering an operation in which another 150 were rescued.
The vessel overturned off the port city of Rosetta. The total number of people on board was not clear.
The tragedy comes months after the EU’s border agency Frontex warned growing numbers of migrants bound for Europe were turning to Egypt as a departure point for the perilous sea journey.

Source: Arab News