The North Cairo Criminal Court decided on Wednesday to refer the documents of the Ahmed Saeed, who is accused of killing the Coptic priest, Samaan Shehta, to Egypt’s grand Mufti, seeking the Mufti’s approval to execute the defendant.
The referral of Saeed’s documents to the grand Mufti indicates that the court’s judiciary approved of a death sentence. The court set the date to declare a final verdict to January 15 2018.
In October, the priest was stabbed to death in the northeastern Cairo suburb of El-Marg.
The defendant admitted he had purchased a knife and monitored the priest’s movements before deliberately killing him.
Shehta’s vehicle was allegedly blocked by the defendant, who then asked Shehta to step out of the vehicle before attacking him and escaping. Another priest, Benjamin Moftah, was present and also assaulted but survived the attack, according to a statement confirming the events from the Egyptian Coptic Church.
A pre-trial investigation determined that Saeed does not suffer from any psychological disorders and that he was entirely aware of his actions.
