Two Egyptian police officers were sentenced by the South Cairo Criminal Court on Monday to three years and six months in prison for the wrongful death of a detainee, a popular painter known as “Afroto.”

Egyptian news agency Mada Masr reports that Afroto was allegedly killed in prison on January 5, 2018, and eyewitnesses told the agency “that Afroto was beaten and tortured to death.” Two investigations were launched, which resulted in the two defendants’ sentencing on Monday.

Afroto was an artist who protested the Egyptian government. Since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took power after a 2013 coup against Mohammed Morsi, he has allegedly used detention without trial and torture to intimidate journalists and restrict press freedoms.

Lawyers defending the wrongfully-detained are often themselves subjected to pressure and injustice. In 2016 a lawyer who filed a suit against al-Sisi was arrested and detained without trial. Egypt is ranked 161/180 on the World Press Freedom Index.

One of the defendants in this case is unlikely to serve any time in prison due to his remand and the other will probably serve the full three years. Mada Masr reports that Afroto’s family deems the sentence “unfair.”