CAIRO: The Qena Criminal Court on Wednesday adjourned to April 17 the trial of Gerges Baroumi accused of rapping a 12-year-old girl in the town of Farshout. The rape, which occurred in November 2009, is believed to have triggered sectarian violence in the Upper Egyptian town. While police held Baroumi, a Christian, on charges of raping the Muslim girl, angry Muslim villagers burnt and looted Christian homes and Christian-owned shops in retaliation. Initial investigations in the Jan. 6 drive-by shooting that left six Copts and one Muslim guard dead and many injured, also suggested that the two incidents were related. Baroumi was referred to court on Nov. 21, 2009. The hearings began on Jan. 19 and have since been adjourned twice; once to Feb. 17 and then to March 24. The trial was convened under strict security measures and was marred by disputes amongst the defense team over which lawyer represented the defendant. The court notified the defense team that none of them will be allowed to attend the next court session without receiving power of attorney from either of the defendants' parents. This led to an argument between the defense team and the court. When a quarrel broke out between lawyer Nabil Gobrael and the court, the latter decided to ban Gobrael from attending future hearings because of what was described by legal sources as "misconduct . The disagreement among Gerges' lawyers led to the withdrawal of lawyer Edward Kerlis, who told Daily News on the phone, I withdrew from the court session because there s no coordination between the defense attorneys. All their actions are motivated by their desire for publicity, which could harm the defendant s position. Both the defendant and the victim and her parents attended the hearing, but no members of the defendant s family were present. The court agreed to a new eye witness named Mohamed Hussein, a student in an Industrial High school, in the next session. Hussein reportedly testified to witnessing the rape, according to what the victim s attorney told the court. The defense team objected to this saying that the new witness was no previously listed in the case files, but the court overruled their objection. Gerges' lawyers also raised objection to the forensic report based on the examination of the defendant and called for its referral to a committee of three. The forensic report has many contradictions as it indicates that the defendant is capable of having sexual relations, but the report only referred to his physical ability without heeding his psychological capacity, defense lawyer Peter Al-Naggar told Daily News. The lawyer said that the report mentioned that the defendant suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. We appealed the report and called for the referral of the defendant to a tripartite committee of forensic doctors because of these contradictions. "In addition, the report should be confidential and no one should be allowed to look at it except the court and the defense team, but it was leaked to the press. Al-Naggar also criticized the fact that a female doctor had authored the report, claiming that a male doctor would have been more knowledgeable and accurate due to the sensitivity of the issue.
