Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Tuesday five supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi to five years imprisonment, charged with unlawfully detaining and torturing a man in the 2013 Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. State-run newspaper Al-Ahram also reported the five men stood accused of amputating the man's left index finger. The court said the defendants detained the victim inside a room close to the sit-in, severely beating him, including with unlicensed melee weapons, on suspicion of his being a police agent. The victim suffered cuts, bruises and abrasions on various parts of his body as well as the amputation of the finger, the court said. The court's investigations indicate the defendants were arrested by the police as they were en route to abandoning the victim in the desert. Morsi supporters face several allegations of torture relating to the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. Amnesty International issued a statement in August 2013 arguing there is "evidence, including testimonies from survivors, [which] indicates that supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi tortured individuals from a rival political camp." The statement added that victims were captured, beaten, subjected to electric shocks or stabbed by individuals loyal to Morsi. In July 2013, a report by the forensic medicine department stated that a body found in the area of Rabaa Al-Adaweya showed signs of torture. Also, last March, the Alexandria Criminal Court ratified the death sentence of an alleged pro-Morsi supporter. The accused faced charges of stabbing and throwing a child off the roof of a building in Alexandria during the fatal clashes that occurred in July last year. Prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures Mohamed Beltagi and Safwat Hegazy are currently on trial on charges relating to the kidnapping and torture of two police officers during the pro-Mohamed Morsi sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adaweya.
