A North Cairo criminal court on Wednesday acquitted seven Egyptian security personnel who had been accused of firing on unarmed anti-regime protesters during Egypt's January 2011 Tahrir Square uprising.
The seven defendants, who include four policemen and three mid-ranking officers, had faced charges of killing at least one protester and injuring another 11 on 28 January 2011 – popularly known as the 'Day of Rage' – outside Cairo's Al-Marg Police Station.
Around 846 people were killed during the 18-day uprising that culminated in the 11 February ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Several policemen were known to have fired on unarmed demonstrators during the revolution. To date, however, Egypt's judiciary has failed to convict a single policeman for murder.
The lack of convictions has continued to be a source of frustration for victims' families, who have repeatedly complained that officers thought to be complicit in their relatives' deaths continue to go unpunished.
