Death sentences for two Egyptians for beheading army officer

Three others received life sentences, and two more were jailed for 15 years each for the murder of the army officer in a police station on February 7 last year, during the anti-Mubarak revolt which later brought the army to power.

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CAIRO // An Egyptian military court yesterday sentenced two men to death for beheading an army officer during the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from the presidency, the official Mena news agency reported.

Three others received life sentences, and two more were jailed for 15 years each for the murder of the army officer in a police station on February 7 last year, during the anti-Mubarak revolt which later brought the army to power.

The men, drug dealers, tortured the officer before they killed him, severed his head and hung it from the roof of the police station south of Cairo which they then burnt down, the agency reported.

The military has sentenced thousands of civilians in military trials since taking power and several of them having been sentenced to death.

Mr Mubarak called the military to the streets on January 28 last year, after nationwide protests targeted his despised police forces.

The ruling generals, who have faced down violent protests demanding they transfer power immediately, said a number of their soldiers died during the anti-Mubarak revolt, but have refused to declare a toll.