Policeman jailed for 15 years for killing of female Egyptian protester

An Egyptian court on Thursday jailed a policeman for 15 years for shooting and killing a female protester during a peaceful leftist rally in January.

Shaima al-Sabbag, 32, was a well-known activist and a mother of a five-year-old. She was hit by birdshot and died in the street as police dispersed a small march held to mark the fourth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Footage of the killing was circulated widely online and sparked widespread outrage both at home and abroad, with anger spreading quickly after the officer, First Lieutenant Yaseen Mohamed Hatem, was not charged with murder or manslaughter but with "battery that led to death" and "deliberately" wounding other protesters.

However, the sentence is the first time a policeman has been charged over the violent death of a protester since then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted his predecessor Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Hatem is still allowed to appeal the verdict.

Human Rights Watch cautiously welcomed Thursday's sentence but warned of a lack of accountability over protester deaths.

"Prosecuting a low-level police officer is important, but it does nothing to mask the government's relentless persecution of peaceful critics, including those who are witnesses to the government's crimes," the New York-based watchdog said in a statement.

"Past convictions of police have been reversed on appeal, meaning there has been zero accountability for killing protesters," it added.

Dozens of policemen were tried for protester deaths after the revolt against Mubarak, which had been partly fuelled by police abuses.

Most have been acquitted, including the former police chief and other commanders who stood trial with Mubarak.

The 87-year-old ex-president, however, now must stand trial over the deaths of hundreds of protesters, after an Egyptian appeals court this month annulled a decision to drop murder charges against him.

Police have also been accused by Human Rights Watch of killing more than a thousand mostly Muslim Brotherhood protesters after Morsi's ousting.  

A crackdown launched by authorities on Morsi supporters has also seen tens of thousands jailed and hundreds sentenced to death in mass trials.