The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) has called on the general prosecutor to appeal the court verdict which sentenced Khaled Saeed's murderers to seven years in prison. On Wednesday, Alexandria Criminal Court convicted two low-ranking undercover police officers, Mahmoud Abu Ghazala and Awad Ismail, of using excessive force in beating Saeed, causing his death. EOHR called on the general prosecutor to change the sentence to "torture with the purpose of killing," a crime punishable by the death penalty. "The organization insists on its demand that the public prosecutor use his legal authority to appeal the verdict with the aim of tightening the punishment," the EOHR said in a statement. Dozens of representatives of political movements and other citizens protested on Wednesday night outside the Plenary Court building in the Mansheya neighborhood of Alexandria to denounce the lenient sentence. A number of politicians and activists condemned the verdict. "Khaled Saeed did justice to the Egyptian revolution, but the revolution did not do justice to him," said the April 6 Youth Movement. "The verdict does not satisfy any person who demands truth and justice; this is an obvious case of torture and the ruling was not enough of a deterrent," said Mahmoud Afify, spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement. Amr Hamed, an executive office member of the 25 Revolution Youth Union, said: "The ruling is extremely weak and shocking, because the case was one of the most important reasons behind the outbreak of 25 January revolution." The case was badly dealt with, especially as the decision was delayed several times, he added, claiming that Saeed's killers deserve the death penalty. The Facebook fan page "We are All Khaled Saeed" which helped spark the revolution by calling at the beginning of the year for demonstrations on Police Day, 25 January, said: "The case is not over yet, and will continue until Khaled gets what is right." Khaled Saeed was killed on 6 June 2010 after being beaten by two policemen, who had arrested him in an internet cafe in Sidi Gaber, Alexandria. He was reportedly arrested after uploading videos onto the internet showing police officers torturing prisoners. The crime is still of great interest domestically and internationally. Translated from the Arabic Edition
