Egyptian court jails policeman linked to Islamist deaths

CAIRO - A Cairo court sentenced a police officer to 10 years in prison with labour on Tuesday in connection with the deaths of 36 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters last year, judicial sources said.

Three other policemen were given one-year suspended sentences. The Interior Ministry said at the time that the Islamists died during an attempted prison break, saying they had been suffocated by tear gas.

A legal source said the men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van.