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Egypt: Trial Delayed to April 18 for Accused of Murdering Copts in Nag Hammadi

The Egyptian Gazette reports that the trial of three Egyptian Muslims charged with murdering Copts will be delayed to April 18, 2010. The three are charged with murder in the January 6, 2010 attack in Nag Hammadi on Coptic Christmas Eve, after their Christian worship services.

The Egyptian Gazette reports: “A State Security Court Sunday in the Upper Egyptian city of Qena postponed until April 18 the trial of three Muslims accused of killing six Copts and a Muslim policeman in the Upper Egyptian city of Naga Hammadi last month.”

Photo of Accused in Nag Hammadi Attacks (Photo: Egyptian Gazette)

Photo of Accused in Nag Hammadi Attacks (Photo: Egyptian Gazette)

ICC reports that Mohammed al-Kammuni, Qorshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed, “have been charged with murder and threatening national security.”

ICC also reports that the accused are believe to have “gunned-down six young Christian men and a police officer on January 6, as Copts were exiting Christmas Eve mass in Nag Hammadi.  This attack was the largest assault on Copts since January 2000, when 21 were killed in sectarian violence.”

“Wagih Yacoub, a Coptic human rights activist, told ICC, ‘They have postponed the trial twice, and they are going to postpone it again and again… this is what we worry about.  Soon the case will die… and all of a sudden we will wake up one day, and the guys will be innocent, and they will walk around on the street again after killing six kids at the Christmas mass.  The Copts are furious about this postponement.  We reject it and demand an immediate trial.'”

 A Christian deacon who was killed during an attack on the Mar Yohana church in Naga Hammadi (Photo:  al-Masry al-Yom - Photographer: Pakinam Amer)

A Christian deacon who was killed during an attack on the Mar Yohana church in Naga Hammadi (Photo: al-Masry al-Yom - Photographer: Pakinam Amer)

January 6, 2010: Still from YouTube Video after January 6 Attack Outside Coptic Christian Church

January 6, 2010: Still from YouTube Video after January 6 Attack Outside Coptic Christian Church