Trial of Egypt ‘Coptic killers’ Delayed

19/4/2010

DUBAI – An Egyptian court postponed the high-profile trial of three Egyptian Muslims accused of gunning down six Coptic Christians and a police officer for a second time on Sunday, Daily News Egypt reported.

The court adjourned the case until May 16 when it will hear the testimonies of the victims’ families, without giving a reason for the postponement, the newspaper said.

Lawyers said the trial was likely pushed back because two judges sitting on emergency security court had been replaced, the paper said, without going into further detail.

“The court decided to adjourn the trial without explaining why, even though both the victims’ and suspects’ lawyers said they wanted to continue,” Ishaq Ibrahim, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), was quoted as saying.

The defendants – Mohammed al-Kammuni, Qorshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed – pleaded not guilty to murder and threatening national security at the start of their trial in February.

The hearing in the emergency security court in the city of Qena – close to the village where the murders took place – was held amid heavy security as sectarian tensions have soared following incident.

Three gunmen sprayed worshippers with bullets as they emerging from services on the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 6 in the village of Nagaa Hammadi.

It was the deadliest attack since 2000, when 20 Copts were killed in sectarian clashes.

The killings sparked outrage among the Egyptian Copts – who account for nearly 10 percent of the country’s population of 80 million – and led to clashes with police.

A court in February sentenced five Muslims to life in prison for killing two Christian men in a family blood-feud in Upper Egypt. The court found the men guilty of shooting two Coptic Christians in the town of Higaza last April.

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