AN Egyptian court yesterday sentenced to death a man accused of the murder of a Coptic priest in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria last month, said judicial sources.

The court’s ruling is subject to approval by the mufti of the republic, normally a formality in the nation that has the third highest rate of executions in the world, according to Amnesty International.

The sources said the defendant was found guilty of voluntary homicide after a court-ordered psychological assessment found him “responsible for his actions”.

Father Arsanios Wadid died of his wounds in hospital after being stabbed on April 7 on the seafront promenade in Alexandria, as he accompanied a group of young parishioners.

The assailant was grabbed by passers-by and handed over to police, who detained him in a psychiatric hospital due to doubts over his mental health.

Coptic Christians, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the Middle East, make up roughly 10% to 15% of the predominantly Sunni Muslim population of more than 100 million in the country.

The community has long complained of discrimination and underrepresentation.

In February, however, Egypt for the first time swore in a Coptic judge to head its constitutional court.

Coptics were targeted in a series of sectarian attacks after the military deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Such attacks focus largely on remote villages in southern Egypt. – AFP, May 19, 2022.