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Trial Opens for Egyptian Editor Accused of Sparking Coptic Unrest
CAIRO, June 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A trial opened amid tight security here Sunday for an Egyptian newspaper editor accused of sparking unrest among Egypt's Coptic Christian minority by publishing a graphic sex scandal about an excommunicated monk.
The court met briefly and then adjourned the case until July 1 to allow the lawyers defending Mamduh Mahran, editor-in-chief of both the Al-Nabaa weekly and Akher Khabar daily newspapers, to prepare their case.
Mahran, who was arrested June 17 but freed on bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (2,600 dollars) three days later following questioning, was absent from the court proceedings.
Up to 400 policemen were on hand for the opening of the trial, which came after violent clashes last week between Copts and police. There were no crowds of Christians outside the courthouse.
Mahran has been charged with disturbing the peace, publishing scandalous pictures and subject matter which led to the humiliation of a religious group and lit "the fires of civil strife."
Mahran is also charged with publishing information about a case under investigation, that of the monk.
Each one of the charges carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. The editor has proclaimed his innocence.
The state security court in Abdine, presided over by chief Judge Osama Ahmed, rejected a request from lawyers for the accused to include in court records a statement they distributed here.
The statement said that, in publishing the article, the two papers "had only wanted to correct a mistake committed by someone representing a religion, which itself is innocent."
"The publication wanted to purge the houses of God of those who tarnished them," it said.
Copies of the newspapers showing front page pictures of the bearded former monk in compromising positions with a naked woman under the headline "monastery turned into brothel" were confiscated by court order.
The head of the Coptic Church, Pope Shenuda III, said last Thursday that "what will calm the Copts is a concrete measure against the newspaper that offended Christians and a measure against the editor of that newspaper."
Shenuda has also filed a libel suit against Mahran for the stories, which have heightened tensions between Egypt's small Christian population and its Muslim majority.
Six policemen were hurt June 17 when a demonstration by thousands of Coptic Christians in Cairo turned violent. More protests followed, although no more trouble was reported.
The Egyptian authorities said Tuesday that President Hosni Mubarak had decided to shut down the two papers temporarily using powers granted him by long-standing emergency laws, but retracted the announcement hours later saying statements by the prime minister had been misinterpreted.
The Copts, whom the government says account for five percent of Egypt's 65 million people, have become vocal in denouncing the government and the authorities recently. Many say they can rely on U.S. backing for their pleas after the U.S sent several officials to Egypt to investigate allegations of discriminations against the Christian community.
The Copts claim the authorities discriminate against them in the state bureaucracy, police and army, education system, and other areas.
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