Campaigners in Egypt hold pictures of Khaled Said, who beaten to death by two policement in June 2010. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images


Family and human rights campaigners condemn leniency of sentence in police brutality case that inspired uprising

October 26, 2011


Democracy activists have condemned the seven year sentence given to two policemen convicted of beating a young man to death in a case that inspired Egypt's uprising.

The death of Khaled Said has been compared to that of Mohammed Bouazizi, the fruitseller whose self-immolation sparked the Tunisian revolution that began the chain of Arab Spring protests.

Said's death became a rallying point for activists campaigning against widespread police brutality and other human rights abuses under the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak.

Six months after Said's death in June 2010, a Facebook page created in his memory was used to call for the January protests that grew into the 18-day uprising that eventually toppled Mubarak.

Said's family said they were "shocked" by the sentence, adding that the revolution was being "aborted".

Human rights campaigners condemned the sentence on Twitter. Despite a public outcry the policemen, Mahmoud Salah and Awad Ismail Suleiman, were never charged with murder.

Said, 28, died after two plainclothes policemen dragged him out of an internet cafe in the northern port city of Alexandria and beat him to death, according to witnesses.

Police tried to portray Said as a drug dealer and claimed he choked on a packet of drugs he swallowed as they approached.

Recent forensic reports showed the packet had in fact been forced into his mouth. Photographs of Said's corpse were widely circulated, showing his body covered with bruises, his teeth broken and jaw smashed.

It was reported that following the verdict, the families of the two convicted policemen smashed benches and tried to attack Said's family.

The founder of the Facebook page "We are all Khaled Said" said the verdict had cleared Said's name.