CAIRO: The State Security Prosecution opened Wednesday an investigation into a complaint filed against former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly, accusing him of killing 27 Copts in the bombing of Al-Qeddesine Church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve.
Lawyer Naguib Gobrael, the head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization, who filed the complaint, also accused former head of the Giza security directorate of involvement in the Omraneya Church clashes of November 2010 that left three Copts dead and tens injured.
Gobrael told Daily News Egypt that he will testify before the prosecution on Monday, urging it to complete its investigations quickly so the case would be joined to the case of killing protesters for which El-Adly is on trial. The next hearing is on Sept. 5.
The complaint urged the Prosecutor General to add the charges of killing Copts in the bombing to the charges of killing Jan. 25 protesters.
Gobrael said that investigating the case will entail a reexamination of the evidence used in the bombing and listening to witnesses and communication records between the dissolved state security apparatus and its counterpart in Alexandria.
He also requested listening to the testimonies of police officers in the Alexandria Security Directorate who are responsible for securing churches and examining the directorate’s records to see whether or not police was assigned to be posted around Al-Qeddesine Church.
The complaint also requested a probe into whether the ministry of interior had investigated Al-Qaeda’s threat of bombing churches following similar terrorist acts in Iraq a few months earlier, in addition to investigating media reports citing British intelligence alleging El-Adly’s involvement in the planning of the bombing using militias of police officers and Islamist groups.
