CAIRO: Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered on Monday the release of 70 Coptic defendants who were arrested after clashes with security forces during a protest last month in Al-Omraneya. The decision follows a memo that was presented by the defense team on behalf of the 154 defendants. The memo called for their release citing concerns of some of the detainees' deteriorating health, as well as other defendants' fear that their academic future would be in jeopardy if they were unable to attend classes at their high school or university. The Prosecutor General forwarded the memo to the Giza prosecutor to determine which detainees should be released due to these concerns. An additional 84 defendants are still under police custody waiting to stand before the prosecution. Lawyer of Coptic Orthodox Church Ramsis El-Naggar told Daily News Egypt that the prosecutor's decision is a good indication of what the other detainees' fates will end up being. “We really hope that the rest of the defendants will be released before standing before the prosecution again,” El-Naggar said. Before this recent release of defendants, the South Giza Court decided last Monday that it would renew the custody of 154 Coptic defendants for 15 days. At the time, the court only released two women and returned two minors to their families. Clashes erupted last November as security forces attempted to demolish a building inside the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Church in Al-Omraneya, saying an unlicensed church was being built instead of a service facility. Two Copts were killed in the clashes, and dozens from both sides were injured. Police arrested dozens of Copts as a result of the clashes, 14 of whom were accused of public property vandalism and the attempted murder of the assistant director of Giza security forces.
