The Muslim extremist, Ahmad Saeed Ibrahim al-Sonbati, who on 12 October murdered a priest in Medinat al-Salam, a satellite town east of Cairo, was today referred to Criminal Court, charged with murder.
Sonbati had murdered Father Samaan Shehata, a 45-year-old Coptic Orthodox priest from the village of Ezbet Girgis in al-Fashn, Beni Sweif, some 130km south of Cairo.
Fr Samaan had been in Medinet al-Salam collecting donations for the needy in Ezbet Girgis, when Sonbati attacked him with a dagger and killed him, then used the dagger to carve a cross on Fr Samaan’s forehead. He said he “sensed Allah telling me to go kill him”, and that he wished to get rid of all ++kafara++, meaning apostates or non-believers.
Copts were livid with anger at the incident, believing they were being targeted and their attackers seldom brought to justice. Anba Raphail, Secretary-General of the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod, made a point of outlining this fact during the funeral service for Fr Samaan.
Fr Samaan, who was ordained in 1998 and was pastor of the church of Yulius al-Aqfahsi in Ezbet Girgis, leaves behind a wife and three children: a young man in his first year at university, and two small girls.
Watani International
17 October 2017