CAIRO, Apr 2 (Aswat Masriya) – The Cairo criminal court sentenced a police man,accused of deliberately killing a civilian in Darb al-Ahmar last February, to 25 years in prison.

The incident dates back to Feb. 18 when a driver was shot dead after a dispute between him and the policeman over the cost of loading goods.

The incident has sparked public anger at the police and hundreds took to protest in Cairo's streets after the killing, in an expression of anger that has become rare in the past few years. 

One day following the incident, the interior ministry said in a statement that the policeman was prompted to fire as a crowd gathered in support of the driver during the dispute.

Several cases of police violence against civilians have been reported over the past months.

Last January, a doctor at the Matariya Teaching Hospital recounted in a video published by Egyptian news portal Mobtada the details of his assault by two low-ranking policemen at the hospital after he told one of them that his injury was superficial.

The incident prompted thousands of doctors to rally in front of the doctors’ syndicate in February demanding to hold those responsible for the assault accountable.

In November, a 47 year old man died after police arrested him on accusations of possessing Tramadol, a pain killer used ubiquitously as a recreational drug in Egypt. He was allegedly killed of torture inside the police station, two hours after his arrest.

Police brutality was one of the triggers of the Jan. 25, 2011 uprising, sparked by protests on Police Day in Egypt aimed to draw attention to the police's use of excessive, at times fatal, force.

President Abdel Fattah al Sisi addressed the topic on different occasions and ordered introducing legislations to control police performance on the street and to hold accountable anyone who violates citizens' rights.