Egypt's highest appeals court has overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial for a police officer currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for his role in the death of a female protester in early 2015.
Egypt's official MENA news agency announced the decision Sunday in the case of Yassin Hatem Salah Eddin, who was convicted in June of premeditated manslaughter in the death of activist Shaimaa el-Sabbagh.
The 32-year-old victim was hit with police birdshot while she and others sought to lay memorial wreaths in Cairo's Tahrir Square to honor those killed in 2011 in anti-government protests that led to the ouster of autocrat president Hosni Mubarak.
Witnesses later said police ignored pleas to allow an ambulance access to the shooting site, and said police also prevented anyone else from helping the victim.
Egyptian media described el-Sabbagh as an advocate for workers' rights and a leading member of the Popular Alliance Party in the city of Alexandria. She was the mother of a young boy.
Sunday's MENA news report said the policeman's defense lawyer had argued that circumstances surrounding the demonstrations leading to el-Sabbagh's death triggered confusion among police officers assigned to enforce bans on street demonstrations.
