With 18 police cars guarding the exterior of the Supreme State Security Court, the first session of the Naga Hammadi case began Saturday in Qena in a state of disorder. Amid the chaos, the head of the court adjourned the session for 20 minutes before postponing the trial of the three suspects charged with killing seven Egyptians, including six Christians, until 20 March.
The three suspects–Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed, known as Hamam el-Kammouny, Qorashi Abul Haggag Mohamed, and Hendawi Mohamed Sayyid Hassan–were brought into the courtroom wearing white clothes and surrounded by 19 policemen. When asked by the head of the court if they had committed the crime, the three men answered negatively.
One of the lawyers requested that People’s Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour appear in court to offer testimony. Sorour had previously told the media that he knew who had incited the suspects to carry out the Christmas Eve shootings.
One of the defendants’ lawyers tried to summon Father Kyrillos, the bishop of Naga Hammadi, for testimony, however, two other lawyers objected, telling the head of the court that a cleric could not be summoned for testimony, especially since he previously denied having seen seen the incident take place.
The prosecution opened the session by accusing the suspects of having gone to three areas of Naga Hammadi on Christmas Eve to purposefully murder seven people, and to attempt to murder nine others. They were also accused of jeopardizing security and of intentionally sabotaging public and private property.
Prosecutors called for the court to impose the harshest penalties possible on the three suspects.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
