25 February 2019 :
An Egyptian court on 23 February 2019 handed down a preliminary death sentence against two monks for murdering a clergyman, according to Egypt's official MENA news agency.
Last year, Coptic Bishop Epiphanius, head of the Anba Makar Monastery in Egypt’s northern Beheira province, was found dead inside the monastery.
Monks Isaiah El-Maqary and Faltaous El-Makary were found guilty of the murder and on 23 February, the court referred them to the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s top religious authority, for consideration of the death penalty against them.
The court has set April 24 as a date for confirming the verdict.