SUEZ, Aug 18 (Aswat Masriya) - A policeman was sentenced to a year in prison on Tuesday after being convicted for the charge of "beating that led to the death" of two brothers in the port city of Suez earlier this year. 

A criminal court found the policeman, who belongs to Suez's rapid deployment force, guilty. 

In January, two brothers on a motorcycle were killed near a Suez security checkpoint after reportedly refusing to adhere to orders to stop.  

An autopsy report stated that a single bullet caused the pair's deaths, after it penetrated the head of the brother sitting in the back, ending up in the head of one driving the motorbike.

Suez Security Director Tarek al-Gazzar told Aswat Masriya in January that the two were on an unlicensed vehicle, which aroused suspicion among security forces at the checkpoint.

The brothers sped away when an officer asked them to stop, Gazzar said, prompting the officer to fire at them. 

Two police officers were arrested after the incident but one of them was eventually released after an investigation by prosecutors revealed that the police officer was not involved in the killings. 

The incident in Suez came days after the shooting of a driver who refused to stop at a Sinai checkpoint. 

The police's treatment has been one of the many sparks behind the January 2011 uprising, with protesters demanding dignified treatment from authorities.