EGYPT: POLICEMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING A COPT DAYS AHEAD OF UPRISING

March 12, 2012: In Egypt, Menya's Criminal Court has decided to sentence low-ranking policeman Amer Ashour for killing a 71-year old Copt and injuring five more, all from the same family, after mysteriously opening fire on them on a train 11 January 2011. The final verdict is to be pronounced on 3 May, the court announced.
The old policeman, a Muslim, opened fire on the six passengers when the train, which was heading to Cairo, made a stop at the Upper Egyptian town of Samalout. His motives remained unclear up till present time.
During interrogation, Ashour said he had felt frustrated after a tiring day, and felt relieved when he pulled out his gun and shot at people, a testimony that suggested he was emotionally disturbed.
Skeptics, however, have suspected that the crime was actually premeditated to further stir sectarian strife, with Mubarak's interior minister Habib El-Adly, currently in jail, accused of instigating the bombing of the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on 31 December 2010, almost five weeks before the Samalout crime. (Sources: Ahram Online 12/3/2012)