Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The court handed down its decision in the first retrial session before the criminal court after the defendants were acquitted on February 20 by the Emergency Supreme State Security Court which also then sentenced Kammūnī, the prime defendant in this case, to death by hanging.

Hindāwī, the third defendant, had appeared in the first session on December 17 amidst a gathering of his family while Qurashī, the second defendant, was absent as well as his lawyer. 

"I am not going to be a scapegoat to anyone. I have been acquitted by the Emergency Supreme State Security Court. I came voluntarily to the court yesterday without even having received any subpoena. I know my retrial was only to please the families of the victims but I am innocent," said Hindāwī. 

He noted that the dissolved State Security Agency has all the secrets of the Naja' Hammādī massacre. [Usāmah al-Hawārī, Al-Ahrām, Dec. 18, p. 31] Read the original text in Arabic

On the other hand, church leaders denied any contacts with the Salafī al-Nūr Party, affirming in comments on an interview by al-Misrī al-Yawm newspaper with Dr. 'Imād 'Abd al-Ghafūr, the party's leader, that they would not mind having dialogue with any factions as long as they are legitimate. 

A source at the Coptic Orthodox Church said that the cathedral has not received any contacts from the Salafī Group or al-Nūr, noting the church will take a decision on dialogue or meetings after the party expresses this formally, not in the press. 

Father Rafīq Greis, the official spokesman for the Coptic Catholic Church, said that so far none of the leaders of the Catholic Church have received any contacts from al-Nūr, adding the church welcomes dialogue with any political faction. 

Dr. Safwat al-Bayādī, the head of the Coptic Evangelical Church, said that hearts and minds as well as doors are wide open for everyone, noting the church can never turn down requests for meetings or dialogues with any Egyptian groups or individuals regardless of their religious affiliations. ['Imād Khalīl, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, Dec. 18, p. 10] Read the original text in Arabic