GIZA: Giza Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud ordered on Tuesday the release of the remaining 23 Coptic defendants who were arrested amid clashes with security forces in Omraneya last November.
Lawyer of the Coptic Orthodox Church Ramsis El-Naggar told Daily News Egypt that the decision to release the defendants came after it was found that there was no reason for them to remain detained.
“[The] Judiciary system is different from society because it implements laws,” El-Naggar stated. “The release decision should be taken on a judiciary basis because social cases [stem from] social anger, which means that no criminal side is involved because [the] defendants did not have any criminal intentions.”
Police forces tried to demolish a community center at the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Church, which spurred angry Copts to clash with police, leaving 2 Copts dead and injuries sustained on both sides.
Police arrested a total of 156 Copts as a result the incident, who have been gradually released following a series of decisions made by the Prosecutor General.
The defendants were facing charges of assaulting central security officers, the attempted murder of an Omraneya police officer, damaging an official central security forces vehicle, the theft of a central security forces vehicle battery, illegal assembly, the use of illegal weapons, failing to provide personal identification documents, throwing stones at police cars and pedestrians, deliberate destruction of buildings for a terrorist objective, blocking traffic, possession and use of explosives, and disturbing public security and peace.
