An Alexandria Criminal Court acquitted the state security officer accused of torturing to death a young man, Sayed Belal, shortly before the 25 January Revolution. Mohamed Al-Shemy, an officer in the state security investigations department, was initially handed a 15-year prison sentence in June 2012 for murder and using torture to extract confessions. The court of appeals accepted Al-Shemy's appeal and the police officer is due to be released soon, state-media said. Al-Shemy was accused along with four other police officers. Two of them were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia, another has been released, and one is on the run. The police officers had arrested Belal along with several others, after a bomb attack on a church in Alexandria on New Years Eve in 2011. At least 21 people were killed in the attack. Egyptian state security offices are notorious for using torture to extract confessions from people. Sayed Belal, along with Khaled Said, another young Alexandrian who was also tortured to death, became revolutionary symbols against police brutality. Posters with their faces were carried during 25 January protests.
