New Trial Ordered for Accused Killers in El-Kosheh Massacre (Egypt)
August 1, 2001
On Monday, an Egyptian appeals court overturned a controversial verdict that absolved most defendants in the country’s worst massacre of Christians in decades in early January 2001 and ordered a retrial. Over the weekend of December 31, 1999 – January 2, 2000, as the much of the world was concerned about Y2K, Egyptian Christians were being attacked and murdered by Muslim mobs in El-Kosheh, a small village 300 miles south of Cairo. One year later, an Egyptian court acquitted all of the defendants charged with the murders of 21 Christians.
The Voice of the Martyrs welcomes this development and encourages Christians from around the world to earnestly pray that the new trial will result in justice for the families of those who lost loved ones in the massacre. Court sources told Reuters that the retrial was likely to begin in a different state security court within three months. In January, Voice of the Martyrs representatives visited El-Kosheh where they met church leaders and family members of those who witnessed loved ones killed. VOM has been assisting families of the massacre through our Families of Martyrs Fund.
Voice of the Martyrs. Used with Permission.