The prosecutor general, Judge Hishām Barakāt, has ordered the imprisonment of 51 defendants for 15 days pending investigations due to possibilities of their involvement in crimes of murder, arson, and terrorist activities in Diljā village, Minya governorate. The prosecution has also ordered the arrest of 79 other defendants who were capable of escaping.

A team from the prosecution has inspected the churches, houses, and shops owned by Copts that have been torched by the supporters of the former president Muhammad Morsi (Mursī). The supporters have also torched a police station and have imposed protection fees on Coptic citizens.

Copts in Diljā have resumed prayers and religious rites in the burnt churches for the first time since the violence erupted (Sanaā’ Abd al-Aātī, Nāgī al-Garhāwī and Hagāg al-Hussaīnī, al-Ahrām, Sept. 19). Read original text in Arabic.