Cairo: An Egyptian court started on Tuesday the trial of nine policemen accused of physically assaulting doctors at a state hospital, an incident that triggered rare protests among medical staff.
The defendants are charged with attacking public servants at work and abusing power.
After a brief procedural session, the Cairo Misdemeanour Court adjourned the trial until June 7, legal sources said.
The postponement is aimed at allowing defence lawyers time to examine documents of the case, they added.
In January, the nine policemen reportedly beat up two doctors at the state-run Mataryia hospital in eastern Cairo allegedly for refusing to falsify a medical report in favour of one of them.
The assault angered the nation’s doctors, who held a series of protests, an unusual action since President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi took office nearly two years ago.
The protesters demanded the accused be put on trial and parliament toughen penalties against attacks on doctors while on duty.
Tuesday’s trial comes more than a week after another court started hearing a case against a policeman charged with shooting dead a tea vendor in a suburban Cairo area allegedly because the victim demanded him to pay the price of a cup of tea.
In March, a third policeman was sentenced to life in prison for killing a driver in a Cairo street, a case that sparked mass protests against police abuses.
In response to public anger, Al Sissi ordered the Interior Ministry to submit proposals to parliament for tougher penalties against policemen found guilty of human rights abuses.
In recent months, rights groups and the opposition have claimed widespread violations by security agencies in Egypt. The government says that police violations are “isolated acts” and wrongdoers are punished.
Police brutality was a key driving force for a 2011 popular uprising that eventually forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down.
