Fifteen suspects have been ordered detained for four days pending investigation into Friday’s riots around the Mar Girgis Church in the Khosous area of Qalyubiya Governorate, said the Khosous district attorney on Monday. The suspects are charged with possession of firearms and Molotov cocktails, rioting and assault.
The violent clashes between Muslims and Copts reportedly killed five people and wounded at least 15 others.
Prosecutors would interrogate additional suspects on Tuesday. They also summoned the church’s chief administrative officer to assess the damages done to the facade of the building during the incident.
Authorities issued a burial permit for Dawood Makram Kamel, a victim found stabbed and thrown next to the church.
Clashes erupted again on Sunday evening between security forces and a number of rioters who refused to obey police orders and stay away from the church, resulting in the injury of two police officers and five recruits.
Pope Tawadros II has expressed condolences to the families of the martyrs who died in the clashes, saying on Twitter: “Our loved ones who have fallen asleep in the hope of resurrection do not die, and heaven will say its just word in a timely manner.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
