Egypt sets date for retrial of policemen charged with torturing lawyer

The Cairo Court of Appeals has set 5 April as the date to retry two security officers accused of torturing lawyer Karim Hamdy to death inside Al-Matariya Police Station.

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced the station’s lieutenant colonel and major to five years in prison after finding them guilty of torturing Hamdy to death. However, the Court of Cassation overturned the sentence.

Hamdy, 27, died after two days in police detention. His body showed signs of torture including broken ribs and bleeding in the brain.

Read: Rights group says 107 Egyptian were killed by police forces in February

The lawyer was arrested with another suspect on charges of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to an Interior Ministry statement. He was found dead after he was interrogated by national security officers, reported the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram.

27 year-old Karim Hamdy was tortured to death inside Al-Matariya Police Station in Egypt