Egypt security court trial in Copt killingsAnd Egyptian bloggers have entered the picture:
(Gulf Times)
Three Muslims accused of gunning down six Egyptian Christians on the Coptic Christmas Eve will stand trial before an emergency security court, the state prosecutor said yesterday. Abdel Magid Mahmud said in a statement that the three men were charged with premeditated murder aimed at harming national interests. ...
'Naga Hammadi bloggers' released after one-day detentionDoesn't sound like the greatest moment for free speech and freedom of expression in Egypt.
Pakinam Amer (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
Around 30 bloggers and activists were released Saturday after being briefly detained in Qena's Security Directorate. The young men and women were apprehended in Naga Hammadi's train station, southern Qena, after traveling from Cairo to offer condolences to the families of victims of sectarian violence and pay their respect to Bishop Kirollos of the Naga Hammadi Diocese, who was allegedly himself a target in the attacks against Christians there.
[...]
The bloggers, who are on their way back to Cairo as time of writing, were among a group of Egyptians that include politicians like Osama Ghazali Harb of the liberal Democratic Front Party, Kifaya leader George Ishaaq and Cairo university professor and opposition leader Mohamed Abul Ghar, who wanted to visit Naga Hammadi to show solidarity with the town's Christians, whose moves are also stifled. However, the politicians had taken a different route, and were on their way to Naga Hammadi in private cars.
Wael Abbas, prominent bloggerm said he spent "one of the worst nights ever in detention." On his way back to Cairo, he told Al-Masry Al-Youm on the phone that they were left to sleep on the cold floor in jail all night. "When we were transferred to Qena's prosecution, we were told we faced charges of 'illegal gathering, disrupting authorities' work, and shouting slogans that could cause sectarian rifts'," he said, adding that he was questioned in the absence of his lawyers.
The bloggers include Amira el-Tahawy, Mustafa el-Naggar, Ahmed Badawi, Shahinaz Abdel Salam, Mohamed Khaled known by his alias "Demagh Mak" and human rights activist Paula Abdo -- himself an eyewitness to some of the clashes that occurred earlier in Naga Hammadi following the shooting.
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Background here.
