CAIRO: Mahmoud Sayed Abdel Hafez Essawy, charged with the murder of Heba El-Akkad, 23, and Nadine Khaled, 19, in Al-Nada compound in Sheikh Zayid city in Sixth of October was referred to the criminal court by the prosecution.
Essam Shiha, the victims’ lawyers, told Daily News Egypt, that Essawy was found guilty by the prosecution and was charged with “murder with the intention of stealing and should thereby receive the death penalty according to Article 234 of the penal code.
According to Shiha, the forensics report indicated that blood from the two victims was found on the accused person’s underwear, who also added that the wound on Essawy’s throat was inflicted by one of the victims.
“The accused person confessed to the crime and reenacted it in front of the authorities, Shiha added.
The murder which took place in Khaled’s apartment in the early hours of Thursday Nov. 27 attracted public attention and created media frenzy, which at one point had portrayed it as an honor crime, questioning both girls’ reputations.
In December, Khaled Gamal Al-Din, Nadine’s father, submitted an official complaint to the head of the Journalists’ Syndicate, accusing newspapers of slandering his dead daughter.
Shiha demanded Syndicate Chief Makram Mohamed Ahmed investigate 22 newspapers and magazines for their coverage of the murder.
Shiha added that he had agreed with Gamal Al-Din not to press criminal charges against the journalists who reported on the case but to press for civil damages against around 50 journalists from various newspapers.
