WATANI International
24 January 2010
The three men who have admitted to committing the Christmas Eve shootout against the Copts of Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt as they left church following Midnight Mass, will be tried before the Emergency Supreme State Security Court in Qena on 13 February. The shootout left seven dead—six Copts and one Muslim passerby—and nine wounded.
Mohamed Ahmed Hassan who goes by the name of Hamam al-Kamouni, Qorashi Abul-Haggag, and Hindawi Sayed Mohamed face charges of premeditated murder, terrorism, possession of unlicensed firearms, disturbing public security, intentional destruction of property, and the intent of killing the wounded. A judiciary source told Watani that the first of these charges alone warrants the death sentence.
Haggag had confessed to being an accomplice in the crime. Mohamed had driven the car while Kamouni opened random fire at the congregation leaving the church. The police found the gun which had been used to fire the shots, and it was found to match the shots found at the site of the crime and in the bodies of the victims. Kamouni is notorious in Nag Hammadi for being a seasoned criminal; he had been convicted in 12 crimes throughout the past years and had spent time in prison from 2002 till 2004. Investigations have so far given no indication of there being others behind the crime.
Anba Kyrillos, bishop of Nag Hammadi, said the Copts received the news of the upcoming trial with comfort.
This is one of the very few times a criminal who commits a crime against Copts is taken to court. The customary practice, which Copts have incessantly condemned, was for the local politicians and security officials to apply intolerable pressure on the Copts to sit down with their offenders and ‘reconcile’, thereby relinquishing all their rights.
Alleged crime
Another surprise trial began last week, when 21-year-old Girgis Yaroumi Girgis, a poultry vendor from the village of Kom al-Ahmar who was accused by 12-year-old Muslim girl named Yusra from the neighbouring village of Shuqeiqi of raping her last November, stood before a Qena court. Girgis had been under arrest since then but had not been referred to court, neither had the medical report on the incident been published. Some observers took this to indicate that there was no evidence Girgis had committed the crime. This alleged crime has been used by security officials, local politicians, and media persons to justify the horrendous attack against Farshout Copts last November and the Nag Hammadi shootout.
An incessantly weeping Girgis was led into the courtroom where none of his family was attending and no lawyer represented him. Girgis tearfully insisted he had committed no crime and, in answer to a question by the judge, said no-one from his family was not there because the trial had been hastily scheduled and they did not know about it. The judge adjourned the trial till 17 February next week until a lawyer would be assigned by the local lawyer’s syndicate to represent the defendant. The following day three lawyers volunteered to defend him.