CAIRO - A court in the Upper Egyptian city of Qena will pass its ruling in the murder of six Copts and a Muslim policeman on the eve of 2009 Christmas by three defendants on January 16. "The ruling will be issued on January 16," the court said as the courtroom was surrounded by heavy police cordoning. The three defendants, who were all ex-convicts, pleaded not guilty as their lawyers accused a local bishop in the city of Naga Hammadi of having full knowledge of the 'true criminals'. "Bishop Keloros of Naga Hammadi know the true criminals. The three defendants are scapegoats," said Osama el-Qadi, a lawyer for one of the defendants. The three defendants opened fire at a gathering outside a church in Naga Hammadi on January 7, killing six Copts and the Muslim policeman. Seven others were injured in the shooting in the Nile River coastal city. Meanwhile, the same court set February 14 as the date on which a Christian man accused of raping a Muslim girl will be sentenced. The authorities claimed the incident was behind the sectarian violence that erupted in Naga Hammadi.
