Egypt seems to be beginning to pay his debts outstanding with its Coptic Christian community after the bombing of a church that left 23 dead two weeks ago in Alexandria. The Supreme Court of State Security in Egypt has sentenced to death today, the main accused of the murder on Christmas Day a year ago, seven people, six of them Christian, in Naga Hammadi, 600 kilometers south of Cairo.And next month will decide the future of the other two defendants in this case. The verdict comes amid an atmosphere that many consider sectarian crisis between Christians and Muslims. It is not just for the massacre in the church of the Dos Santos in Alexandria. Earlier this week a Muslim policeman came out of a train while he was stationed in the southern city of Samalut in the governorate of Minya, 260 kilometers south of Cairo, killing a 71 year old man and wounding five women and four men, all Christians.
Furthermore, on Saturday, Egyptian Christians woke up with a new shock after knowing that a limpet bomb attached to a religious car would have exploded without causing casualties in the monastery of Deir El Suryani (the Syrians), Wadi Natron, about 180 kilometers west of Cairo. The defense lawyers believe the trial is unconstitutional because it takes place in a special court.
Egypt maintains the Emergency Law in force for 30 years and has been repeatedly criticized by civil society and international human rights organizations for trying civilians in military courts acting under this rule. The trial has been littered with controversy for being the first time in decades that a case of sectarianism is referred to the Supreme Court of State Security, whose decisions can only be appealed to the president, Hosni Mubarak The incident occurred on January 6, 2010 (Coptic Christmas Eve) when a gunman, accompanied by two others, fired from a speeding car into a crowd of worshipers leaving the church Anba Basay in Naga Hammadi, after attending midnight mass.
In his day, tried to disguise the sectarian murder of a court of justice exercise taken by the hand as a matter of honor. The Ministry of Interior, said through a statement that the incident was related to the kidnapping and rape of a Muslim girl in the area, allegedly by a young Christian.
However, subsequent investigations cleared that argument. It was the bloodiest sectarian incident happened in the country since the 90's, when many groups proliferated in Egypt Islamic militants held in check by the security forces for more than five years. And it has kept the Egyptian society divided over the continued delays in the trial.
The early manifestations destabilized the country, with hundreds of Copts demanding justice. Some human rights activists were arrested and jailed when they tried to reach by train to the southern town to hold vigils of rejection. Many felt that the event had been planned weeks in advance, since many Christians had been threatened.
They also had in mind that the attack took place in Naga Hammadi, a town in the province of Qena, densely populated and rich in history Coptic Christian. The ancient manuscripts of Naga Hammadi, apocryphal texts known as the Gnostic gospels were discovered there in 1945. A year later, Christians were still demanding justice for the deceased and accused the government of justice for Christians is not the same as their Muslim compatriots.
On day 6, during Midnight Mass that Pope III Souda traditionally held in the headquarters of the Coptic Patriarchate in Cairo's Abasiya Cathedral the Pope recalled, "because it has been a year since his death," the victims of Naga Hammadi.
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