Egyptian policemen get jail with labour for torture

CAIRO - A Cairo court sentenced two policemen to three years in prison on Monday for torturing a man almost two years ago in a case that sparked a public outrage in Egypt and drew criticism from international rights groups.

Captain Islam Nabih and Corporal Reda Fathi were arrested in December after Egyptian Internet blogs widely circulated an incident, recorded covertly on video, showing a man being sodomised with a stick.

Minibus driver Imad al-Kabir later accused Nabih and Fathi of torturing him in a Cairo police station after he was detained and beaten up for intervening to stop an argument between the police officers and his brother.

Court officials said both men will appeal the verdict.

International and local rights group say torture is widespread and systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. Past victims have reported receiving electric shocks and beatings. Egypt says it opposes torture and prosecutes policemen against whom it has evidence that they tortured.

The video showed Kabir lying on the floor, naked from the waist down with his hands bound behind his back and his legs held in the air. He screams and begs as he is sodomised with a stick while those around him, whose faces are not visible, taunt him.

A number of high profile torture cases have come to light in recent months, including allegations of police torturing a 13-year-old who subsequently died of his injures.

Kabir's lawyer said the officers threatened his client and after he filed a complaint with authorities. Kabir was later sentenced to three months in jail for resisting and obstructing the authorities and assaulting a policeman in the same incident.