An Egyptian court yesterday acquitted 17 people of charges related to a street protest earlier this year, judicial sources said, a rare decision since Egypt introduced a strict protest law in late 2013.

The demonstration in January, a march marking the anniversary of the uprising against veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011, caught the world's attention after the shooting death of 32-year-old protester Shaimaa Sabbagh was caught on video.

Defence lawyer Sayed Abu el-Ila, who was photographed with Sabbagh dying in his arms, confirmed this was the first acquittal since the protest law came into force in 2013.