Alexandria Court resumes trial of murdered of Priest Arsanios Wadeed

CAIRO – 18 May 2022: The Alexandria Criminal Court resumed Wednesday the trial of the murderer of the priest of Alexandria, Reverend Arsanios Wadeed, who was killed while on the Corniche last month.

Wednesday’s hearing was set to listen to the defense pleading.

During the first hearing session on Saturday, the court listened to eyewitnesses of the accident, as well as the testimony of a driver.

The defendant, known as “Abdel Rahman Nahr,” denied all the accusations drawn against him before the Alexandria Criminal Court during the first session of his trial.

The first session of the trial began on Saturday with the prosecution’s pleading, then it interrogated the victim, who denied killing the victim.

Earlier last month, the priest of Church Virgin Mary Arsanios Wadeed was walking in the street when a man, 60 years old, attacked him with a bladed weapon, causing him severe injuries, and he was announced dead at the hospital.

Residents of Muharram Bey street in Alexandria reportedly seized the man who attacked the priest, and the weapon. The man was then arrested by the police, and Egypt’s Top prosecutor ordered speed completion of investigations into the murder.

On April 8, the man who attacked the priest was detained pending investigations by Egypt’s Attorney general, Hamada El Sawy.

The accused confessed to committing the crime and then tried to show that he was psychologically ill, but he was referred to a Mental Health Hospital, which issued a report confirming that the man is not mentally ill, and is responsible for all his actions.

Investigations proved that the man was affiliated with Islamic groups in Upper Egypt’s city of Assiut and that he was previously arrested. It also indicated that the man committed the incident with premeditation, and that the attack was directed against Christian clerics because of his extremist tendencies.

Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hamada el Sawy ordered referring the man accused of killing Priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Alexandria Arsanious Wadeed to the criminal court for trial.

According to the statement, the accused is facing charges of premeditated murder and possessing a cold weapon.

Surveillance cameras in the street showed that the priest was in a religious sermon meeting with other people, however, after finishing the meeting, the accused came near the priest and stabbed him in his neck.