"The accused in the Maspero incidents are quite sure about their innocence. Demonstrations and sit-ins are just part of the reactions to the practices against the protesters," said 'Abd al-Fattāh, who is one of the persons facing charges of involvement in the October 9 Maspero incidents that left scores killed or wounded, in a symposium hosted by the Syndicate of Journalists' Freedoms Committee.
Priest Philopater Jamīl of the Virgin Mary Church in Faysal district, one of the persons accused of involvement in the Maspero incidents but was released later, said that he will lodge a complaint to detect the persons who ignited the incidents. ['Alā' al-Dīn Sālim and Safā' Shākir, Al-Ahrām, Dec. 28, p. 5] Read the original text in Arabic
[Reviewer's Note: A report on the same story was published by Farūq al-Jamal, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Dec. 28, p. 4] Read the original text in Arabic
The investigations into the Maspero case accused three priests, Muslim Brotherhood members and four political movements of inciting and sparking riots, summoning witnesses for the prosecution for the second time.
Suspects said that they had nothing to do with the protests in Maspero but that they were arrested because they were Christians.
A member of the Salafī al-Nūr Party said that he was arrested inside his house 45 days after the incidents. [Hātim al-Jahmī, Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Dec. 28, p. 6] Read the original text in Arabic
A military court decided to adjourn the trial of three soldiers in the Maspero incidents to the January 8 session after the Military Prosecution pressed charges against them of involvement in manslaughter of four people.
The court session on Dec. 27 was attended by four lawyers and the families of the number of dead or wounded people.
The soldiers denied that they caused the death of any citizen, saying they (the soldiers) have been badly beaten and assaulted by protesters during the Maspero incidents and tried as much as they could to avoid clashes with the demonstrators. [Al-Akhbār, Dec. 28, p. 8] The article has no link online
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Dr. 'Abd al-Mun'im Abū al-Futūh called on Muslim and Christian clerics to bring up youths and youngsters to respect sound religious values and teach them how to avoid fanaticism, extremism and hatred of others.
"It is a shame that some Christians say they would migrate from Egypt if Islamists obtained the majority of parliament seats," said Abū al-Futūh during a visit the Coptic Orthodox Church in Sohag this week as part of his rallies and tours in the Upper Egyptian governorate. [Al-Ahrām, Dec. 28, p. 5] Read the original text in Arabic
One year after the Two Saints Church bombing attack that left 20 people dead and dozens others wounded, Father Archpriest Maqār Fawzī said he is not scared by the Islamists' ascendance, expecting "a decent life for Copts under a sound Islamic rule". [Muhammad Mutāwa' and Bilāl 'Abd al-'Azīm, Al-Ahrām, Dec. 28, p. 5] Read the original text in Arabic
"We have given our votes for the Muslim Brotherhood, but [Salafī cleric] 'Abd al-Mun'im al-Shahāt was ignored by Muslims before Copts," Father Fawzī said in an interview to al-Ahrām. [ Sāmī Khayr Allāh, Al-Ahrām, Dec. 28, p. 5] Read the original text in Arabic
Meanwhile, Grand Shaykh of the Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayīb vehemently denounced "deluded groups" for the bombing attacks that targeted a church in the Nigerian Capital Abuja and the shedding of innocent blood.
[Reviewer's Note: The extremist Islamist group Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the deadly blast in Abuja that left 39 killed and scores others wounded on Christmas Eve]
"Islam is innocent from these irresponsible acts and even deems as sin and penalizes these criminal actions that clash with the precepts of the faiths, conscience and ethics," Shaykh Tayīb said in a statement. [Author not mentioned, Al-Akhbār, Dec. 28, p. 3] Read The Original Text in Arabic
Naja' Hammādī has witnessed a new kidnapping of two high school students – Jirjis Rizq and Mīnā Nash'at – while they were on their way to the Anbā Badābā Monastery using motorbikes, five kilometers away from the town.
Running out of gas, Rizq and Nash'at phoned their friends get them some gas but the friends neither could find them nor could reach them on their cell phones because they were switched off.
A little while later the two young Copts' families received phone calls from unidentified persons asking for the sum of LE600,000 (roughly $100,000) in ransom for their release.
The families refused the requests on the grounds that they were not in possession of any lands or real estate and asked for reducing the ransom money but the kidnappers threatened to kill the two students if they did not receive the sum they named.
The two young Copts' friends later published the news on their Facebook pages and called for organizing a peaceful demonstration outside the police station. Nearly 400 citizens gathered in front of the station, where senior police officials demanded the protesters' departure and giving the police a chance to search for the culprits.
Archbishop Kyrillos of Naja' Hammādī said this is the 11th case of abduction of Copts in the town and its villages in just a matter of five months.
"Fear haunting Copts and the threats they receive push them to avoid reporting the authorities, which makes it easier for thugs who exploit the state of lawlessness," said Archbishop Kyrillos.
He added that he received threats that there will be copycat Eastern Coptic Christmas attacks in the fashion of those that took place on the eve of January 6. [Mīnā Mihannā, Al-Ahālī, Dec. 28, p. 1] Read the original text in Arabic
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Jamāl al-'Arabī denied that the ministry would grant licenses to build "Islamic schools," denying that there will be no schools built on religious basis.
"The owners of those types of schools lend the name 'Islamic' to their educational establishments but the curricula inside schools nationwide subject to and supervised by the education ministry are the same," said 'Arabī during a press conference on December 26. [Sāmī Fahmī, Al-Ahālī, Dec. 28, p. 3] Read the original text in Arabic
