CAIRO: The Criminal Court in Qena adjourned on Monday the case of Girgis Baroumi, an 18-year-old Copt, accused of raping a 12-year-old Muslim girl in Farshout until April 21. The court adjourned the case to review the defense s request to assign the case to another district. The defense team had filed a request on Saturday, April 17 because of what they described as the court s refusal to respond to the defense s requests. The defense team threatened to file a lawsuit against the court, if their request to reject the court was denied. Lawyer Ashraf Edward Korolos told Daily News Egypt, The Egyptian judicial system has never accepted a request to 'reject the court' except once in 1957 because the judge was related to the defendant, that s why we will file a lawsuit against the court if our request is refused. He added the court has refused to comply with our demands, which are essential for our case. He explained that the court refused to allow the defense team to meet alone with the defendant throughout the investigations and trial. During a previous trial, the court asked the defense team to acquire powers of attorney from the defendant s parents, which he described as an illegal procedure, as the attorney is allowed to attend criminal trials without power of attorney. He added that the court also refused the defense s request to examine the crime scene, which the prosecution had agreed to, but the court insisted on its position.
