CAIRO: Egypt's public prosecutor has ordered the release of 46 people arrested in connection with Saturday night's violent clashes outside Maspiro, the Egyptian television headquarters. Another 16 have been released. Twenty-two defendants, including two fugitives, were indicted for creating a state of panic and causing the clashes between Coptic Christian demonstrators in front of Maspiro and a number of unknown persons. Around 78 people were injured during the clashes, in addition to damage to property. The indictments followed investigations by Wael Shebl and Ahmed Rushdi, two prosecuting attorneys from the Dictrict Attorney's office, under the supervision of Judge Amr Fawzy. The prosecutors revealed that the defendants used firearms and fired them randomly, wounding 36 people including two high-risk casualties. They also set fire to 11 cars, vandalized three others, including a civil defense unit's car, and caused damage to public and private property. Public Prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmoud ordered the release of 46 people detained in connection with the events and the continued detention of 16 others pending further investigations. Two others were jailed for four days on unrelated charges. Medical reports on those injured indicated they were wounded by gunfire and that the injuries were the abdominal area and led to internal bleeding and infection, and that they were present at the scene of the clashes by chance. The district attorney's office released them after discovering that the incidents were not religiously fueled: the first being an argument between a tea vendor and a peddler in which some of the protestors got involved, and the second incident being an argument between a passing motorcyclist and a protestor.
