CAIRO (AP) — A court docket within the Egyptian metropolis of Alexandria started the trial Saturday of a person accused of stabbing to demise a Coptic Christian priest, an assault that shocked the Arab World’s most populous nation.
The case dates to early April when Arsanious Wadid, a 56-year-old priest, was killed at fashionable seaside promenade within the Mediterranean metropolis.
Prosecutors accused the suspect of stabbing the cleric to demise. The suspect appeared earlier than judges at a packed courtroom Saturday in Alexandria, within the first session of his trial. He denied the accusations.
Protection legal professionals, of their preliminary argument, stated that the assault was not a “deliberate” one.
The court docket’s high decide, Wahid Sabry, additionally questioned witnesses in regards to the assault. One witness stated the suspect stabbed the priest “as a result of he was a Christian,” and tried to assault bystanders after they intervened.
When judges requested the witness to acknowledge the suspect, he walked over to the defendants cage the place the suspect was being held and recognized him, based on a livestreaming on Fb.
Prosecutors demanded the utmost punishment for the suspect, which might be a demise sentence if he is convicted.
Sectarian violence is just not unusual in Egypt. Islamic extremists have additionally focused Christians lately, particularly following the 2013 army ouster of an elected however divisive Islamist president.
In September 2017, an alleged Islamic State supporter stabbed to demise an 82-year-old Christian physician in Cairo. He was sentenced to demise the next 12 months.
Egypt’s Copts, the Center East’s largest Christian neighborhood, have repeatedly complained of discrimination. They account for about 10 % of Egypt’s over 103 million folks.
