Egyptian court sentences 76 in Israeli embassy attack

An Egyptian court sentenced 76 citizens in last September’s attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

Seventy-four of the convicted protesters were given one-year suspended prison sentences on Sunday. One was sent to a juvenile detention center, while a former police officer who fled the country after criticizing the Mubarak regime was sentenced to five years in prison in absentia, the Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm reported.

More than 1,000 Egyptians demonstrated at the embassy Sept. 9, 2011, many after an Egyptian Facebook group called on protesters to gather at the embassy and “urinate on the wall.” During the demonstration, protesters tore down the Israeli flag from the high-rise building’s roof for the second time in a month.

Three people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the riots.

The protesters broke down the 8-foot-high security wall surrounding the embassy compound and entered the building, requiring the evacuation of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, embassy personnel, their families and Israelis staying at the embassy.

Six security employees stranded in the building were later removed by an Egyptian commando unit during a rescue operation.

The riots took place after six Egyptian security personnel were killed in August 2011 as Israel pursued the bombers of a civilian bus near Eilat.