Death penalty for Egyptian policeman

An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced a policeman to death for the murder of one person and the attempted murder of five others on board a train bound for Cairo from Assiut on January 11, 2011. All of the victims were Coptic Christians. The court referred the verdict on Amer Ashour Abdel Zaher to the grand mufti for ratification, whose opinion regarding death sentences is necessary, and who usually endorses court decisions. The final sentence will be announced on May 3, after the mufti gives his opinion on the sentence. Days ahead the Egyptian revolution, Abdel Zaher entered the train while it was standing at the Samalout Station in Minya (260 km south of Cairo) and opened fire on a group of Coptic Christians, killing an elderly man and wounding five others. The court also convicted Abdel Zaher of using his weapon for unauthorised purposes. Abdel Zaher’s defence had claimed he suffered from a psychological disorder and questioned his mental state at the time of the crime, but a medical committee assigned by the court presented a report refuting this claim. The families of the victims were pleased with the verdict, while Abdel Zaher’s relatives cried when they heard it. The crime angered the Coptic community, which held demonstrations in Minya following the shooting, while Egyptian human rights organisations blamed security services for failing to protect citizens.