Egypt to compensate family of Khaled Said, killed in police custody

CAIRO – Two Egyptian police officers convicted of killing Khaled Said almost 12 years ago must compensate his family, a court ruled on Tuesday.

The two men must pay one million Egyptian pounds (about $63,000) in compensation to Said's brothers, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) said on Thursday.

The rights group said its lawyers will appeal the verdict on behalf of the family because the compensation is insufficient.

Said was 28 years old when he was detained in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in June 2010, reportedly for posting a video of officers handling illegal drugs.

He was beaten and tortured to death by the officers. Leaked images of his beaten body were shared online.

The men were sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing Said.

After the incident, activists created a Facebook page called ‘We are all Khaled Said’, urging people to protest police brutality.

The case is widely believed to be one of the driving forces behind the 25 January revolution of 2011.

The revolution had been hailed as a political and social victory, after longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak was ousted 18 days in.

However Egyptian media outlets, mostly those loyal to the regime of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, have since pointed fingers at the revolution as the main reason behind Egypt's current political and social crises.