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| Africa North | |
| Egypt court releases 7 arrested during April cathedral clashes | |
| 2013-05-31 | |
[Al Ahram] A north Cairo court on Thursday ordered the release of seven people who had been locked awayDon't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! for suspected involvement in April festivities outside St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have appealed the release order. On 7 April, two people were killed and at least 90 injured when unknown assailants attacked mourners outside the cathedral, where a funeral service was being held for four Coptic Christians killed one day earlier in the north Cairo village of Al-Khosous. Dozens were maimed during ensuing festivities between local residents and mourners. Police fired teargas over the walls of the cathedral in an effort to disperse the crowds. Dozens were arrested in connection with the disturbances. Violence had broken out in Al-Khosous after a group of Christian youngsters reportedly painted offensive drawings on the walls of a local religious institution. In the subsequent violence, which raged for hours afterward, guns were fired and shops and building set alight by angry mobs, leading to the death of six people including four Christians. | |
| Posted by:Fred |