Public Attorney ‘Abd al-Mājid Mahmūd has ordered the release of 42 of the detainees in the al-‘Umrāniyyah church riot incident.

The Coptic Church has welcomed the releases and called for the freeing of those still being held before Christmas. A church source said there is no longer any justification for preventive custody.

Forty-two additional detainees remain in custody.

[Similar reports appeared in Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd p.3, Al-Ahrām p.1, Al-Jumhūrīyah p.3, Al-Akhbār p.1,  Al-Wafd p.12, Rose al-Yūsuf p.1.]