The Cairo Criminal Court on Thursday heard the Amiriya police station case, in which four police officers are accused of killing three protesters on 28 January 2011, and attempting to kill five others.
The state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram quoted eyewitnesses as saying in court that the demonstration in front of the police station on that day was peaceful, yet officers who were on the roof fired at the demonstrators.
An eyewitness said that he was shot in his left hand, and that he saw a demonstrator get hit in the neck with a bullet.
Another witness said he saw the demonstrators chanting slogans against the regime and raising banners bearing the word "peaceful” before he decided to join. Then he saw a police car trailing the demonstration, out of which came officers firing shots in the air in order to disperse the demonstrators.
He also said a child was injured by a gunshot while trying to throw a stone at the police station, after which the officers started to shoot at the demonstrators, killing his brother.
More than 850 demonstrators were killed during the protests that swept the nation last January and February against the regime of deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
