A judge representing the public prosecutor's office agreed on Thursday to release 27 out of 28 suspects in the case of the 9 October Maspero violence, in which 31 people were killed when the military and police attacked protesters, most of whom were Copts. However, prominent blogger and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who was also arrested in connection with the Maspero incident, remains in detention, his father and lawyer Ahmed Seif al-Islam told Egypt Independent. The charges against the released Maspero suspects have not been dropped and all 28 are still facing prosecution. According to Seif al-Islam, Abd El Fattah was not released because he filed an appeal separately from the other 27 defendants when the case was in the State Security Court. Abd El Fattah's defense team filed an appeal 10 days ago, but the law stipulates that 30 days must elapse before filing another appeal. The Maspero case has been transferred to a new court twice. Originally, the case was brought by the military prosecution, but later sent to a State Security court. Then on Monday, the general prosecution decided to transfer the it to a civilian judge. The case was handed to a judge after lawyers questioned the impartiality of the public prosecutor. “The decision to release the detainees is great news, and we are still studying what will be our next step regarding Abd El Fattah,” said Seif al-Islam. The 28 are charged with the murder of one soldier, the theft of guns from the armed forces, and damaging private and public property, said Taher Abul Nasr, a lawyer working on the suspects' defense team. “There is no reason to hold them in detention since their interrogation has ended. They have nothing more to add,” said Nasr. On 13 December, Abd El Fattah's detention was renewed for the fourth time. The court has the option of renewing his detention again on 28 December. There is no trial date set for the case.
