An Egyptian court
sentenced 12 Christians to life in prison and acquitted eight Muslims on Monday
in a case set off by religious tensions in the country's south.
The Christians were
found guilty of sowing public strife, the possession of illegal weapons and
shooting dead two Muslims in April of last year in Minya province, about 220
kilometers (135 miles) south of Cairo.
The religious tension
in Minya spilled over into violence last year when a Muslim microbus driver,
angered by a speed bump outside a wealthy Christian man's villa, got into a
scuffle with security guards who beat him.
After returning to his
village of Abu Qurqas that evening, he rounded up the villagers who then
gathered outside an ultraconservative Islamist group's main office there to
protest his beating. According to rights researcher Ishak Ibrahim, the
Christians nearby thought they were going to be attacked and shot from their
rooftops down at the crowd, killing two and wounding two others.
For several days after,
angry villagers torched dozens of Christian homes and stores.
The eight Muslims on
trial in the same case had been charged with possession of illegal weapons and
burning down the Christian-owned homes and stores after the shooting.
"The fact that the
Muslims were acquitted means that the attorney general's investigation from the
beginning was faulty and unfair because there was evidence to prove these men
had burned Christian property," Ibrahim said.
The State Security
Court, whose rulings cannot be appealed, handed down its sentence on Monday.
The ruling military council is the only entity with the power to request a
retrial.
Christians, who make up
about 10 percent of Egypt's estimated 80 million people, complain that the
courts and police often turn a blind eye to discrimination or violence against
them. Some fear the surge of ultraconservative Islamists to power after Hosni
Mubarak's overthrow last year could further curtail their rights.
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