Egypt

Court puts off review of church bombing case

An Egyptian court on Sunday postponed the examination of a church bombing case to the beginning of 2012.

Twenty-three Copts were killed in what is believed to be a suicide attack that targeted Copts exiting the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on 1 January 2011.

MENA said the court postponed the case to allow prosecutors to obtain an official copy of investigations into the incident from Supreme State Security Prosecution.

However, MENA did not say what date was set for the case to be reviewed.

Samir Adly, one of the victims’ lawyers, said the permit to obtain a copy of investigations, which was granted during the first session in September, was considered unclear by the Supreme State Security Court, which has necessitated the need to issue another permit.

The St. Mark Church in Alexandria filed a case against Prime Minsiter Essam Sharaf, Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy and Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on 13 September, accusing officials of being intentionally slow on this case.

The lawsuit calls for obliging Sharaf to immediately instruct the interior minister to comply with prosecutors and hand over the suspects to them.

Joseph Malak, lawyer for the Two Saints Church, had asked the court to issue an official copy of investigations into the incident during the 25 September session.

Meanwhile, Kamil Sadeeq, a top church official in Alexandria, said the church is seeking to oblige the attorney general to cancel the gag order and allow results of the investigations to be announced.

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