CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced to death a man accused of the murder last month of a Coptic priest in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, judicial sources said.
The Alexandria court’s ruling is subject to approval by the mufti of the republic.
The sources said the defendant was found guilty of voluntary homicide after a court-ordered psychological assessment found him “responsible for his actions.”
Father Arsanios Wadid died of his wounds in hospital after being stabbed on April 7 on Alexandria’s seafront promenade as he accompanied a group of young parishioners.
The assailant was grabbed by passers-by and handed over to police, who detained him in a psychiatric hospital because of doubts over his mental health.
Coptic Christians, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the Middle East, make up roughly 10 to 15 percent of Egypt’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population of more than 100 million.
The community has long complained of discrimination and underrepresentation.
In February, however, Egypt for the first time swore in a Coptic judge to head its constitutional court.
Copts were targeted in a series of sectarian attacks after the military in 2013 deposed Islamist president Muhammad Mursi. Such attacks focused largely on remote villages in southern Egypt.
Egypt hands down death sentence for priest’s murder
https://arab.news/5qdzb
Egypt hands down death sentence for priest’s murder
- The defendant was found guilty of voluntary homicide
- A court-ordered psychological assessment found him "responsible for his actions"
Syria evacuates flood-affected residents of displacement camps in Idlib
- Emergency teams conduct drainage operations, clear culverts within camps, reopen more than 25 roads, 30 water channels
- Teams coordinate with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Idlib governor’s office to oversee distribution of humanitarian aid
LONDON: Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic have evacuated dozens of families from six displacement camps in western Idlib in the past two days after severe weather caused flooding and damage.
Raed Al-Saleh, the Syrian minister of emergency and disaster management, said 173 families had been moved from camps in Badama and Khirbet Al-Jouz to temporary shelter centers in Idlib Governorate.
Emergency teams have conducted drainage operations, cleared culverts within the camps, reopened more than 25 roads and 30 water channels, and removed five earthen berms as part of preparation for further weather systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
They are coordinating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Idlib governor’s office to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid.
A rubble removal and road restoration project in Jabal Al-Akrad in the Latakia Governorate has also been initiated to help facilitate residents’ return, the SANA added.
Heavy rainfall in northern and western Syria has resulted in flash floods since Saturday that have swept through areas near seasonal waterways in western Idlib Governorate. The floods have submerged several tents and prompted authorities to evacuate families and open temporary shelters for those displaced.
