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Afrasianet-Two Tunisian policemen have been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing a youth during protests last year, the first verdict on a civilian death during the demonstrations that sparked the Arab Spring, sources said on Tuesday.

The ruling was handed down during the night on Monday-Tuesday by a military tribunal in Sfax, 280 kilometres (174 miles) south of the capital Tunis, judicial sources said.

Slim Hadhri was killed by a bullet during protests on January 14, 2011, the day that longtime Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country after weeks of demonstrations against his rule.

The tribunal found policemen Omrane Abdelali and Mohamed Said Khlouda guilty of homicide for the killing of the youth, sentenced them to 20 years in prison each and ordered them to pay 40,000 euros ($53,000) to the victim's family, a source said on condition of anonymity.

It marked the first ruling by a military tribunal on the death of a civilian during the protests, with previous judgements having ruled on the killings of police.

According to a United Nations estimate, some 300 Tunisians, both civilians and military, were killed and 700 wounded during the uprising that sparked the Arab Spring mass protests across the region.

-Agencies-