Several NGOs have slammed the prosecution’s investigations into Wednesday's clashes between security forces and Coptic rioters. The violence came as thousands of Copts protested a decision by the Giza authorities to halt construction at a local church.
A statement released on Thursday by six organizations accused the general prosecution of infringing on defendants’ rights during interrogations.
The prosecution allowed only five of 25 lawyers to attend the interrogations, according to the statement, adding that the law instructs each suspect to be accompanied by an attorney. The statement noted the prosecution denied a request by the lawyers to meet exclusively with their clients and to discontinue interrogations. They also demanded the documentation of injuries caused to the defendants during the sessions.
Prosecutor-general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered 159 suspects involved in the incidents to be remanded into custody for 15 days pending further investigation. They face charges of illegal assembly, damaging personal and public properties, disrupting traffic movement, resisting arrest, assaulting security officers on duty, and possessing detonative explosives.
The defendants denied the charges. Some said they were out of the city during the clashes, while others claimed they were arrested in the surrounding vicinity.
Meanwhile, more than 5000 Christians and Muslims from Balyana, Souhag, attended the funeral procession of Mackarious Gad Shaker, the 19-year-old Copt killed in the clashes.
Scores of protesters and security personnel were also injured.
