EGYPT (ANS) -- The drive-by shooting of Coptic Christians by extremist Muslims has been condemned by public opinion worldwide.

According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih of the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the incident, which killed six people and wounded nine, occurred on Jan. 6 after Copts finished celebrating the Orthodox Christmas Eve midnight Mass in the southern town of Nagaa Hammadi.

AINA commented that to contain possible public relations damage to Egypt’s image, and to minimize fallout from the incident, “government spin doctors” went into action. AIMA said they tried to condition public opinion into believing State Security’s explanation: that the killing was “criminal and individual,” rather than “sectarian.”

AINA reported that Egypt's Interior Ministry said the Nag Hammadi attack was a retaliation for last Nov’s alleged sexual assault of a Muslim girl by a Christian man, Girgis Baroumi Girgis, in the town of Farshout. AINA said the alleged rape was used by security officials, politicians and the media to justify attacks against Copts in Farshout last Nov, as well as in Nag Hammadi.

Egyptian police arrested three suspects responsible for the Christmas Eve shootings; Mohamed el-Kamony, Korshy Aly and Hendawy Hassan, who are convicted felons.

AINA reported that Habib el-Adly, Minister of Interior, said on Jan. 24, in an interview on the Egyptian TV program “City Talk,” that el-Kamony works as an assassin-for-hire. He continued, “He got so upset about the rape and the videos of nude Muslim girls with Christian men, that it triggered the shooting urge in him.”

AINA said that Mustafaal-Sayyed, professor of political science at Cairo University, believes that the theory of a revenge killing does not hold because the three men charged with the killings are not relatives of the raped girl.

“Why would they choose to shoot at Copts on their Christmas Eve?” AINA said he asked.

AINA said well-known activist Fathi Farid told Coptic News in a Jan. 19 interview the authorities are trying to make a scapegoat out of Baroumi to justify the violations against the Copts in Egypt.

He said, “If they can prove that Girgis is guilty then they can say that what happened on Christmas Eve is a reaction to what he did.”

AINA said on Nov.18 2009, Girgis, a poultry vendor from Kom al-Ahmar village, near Farshout, was accused by Muslim Yusra Abdelwahab, 12, from the neighboring village of al-Shukeifi, of sexually assaulting her. Claims of the assault led to several days of unrest in the area, with hundreds of Muslim protesters looting and burning Christian property. State Security also forced the eviction of 160 Christians from Baroumi's village.

Girgis has been detained since last Nov. 2009 but has not been charged. AINA said the forensic report of the assault was never published, which some observers say means no evidence could be found against him.

AINA said with little warning, Girgis’ trial began on Jan.17, at the Qena Criminal Court, nearly 370 miles south of Cairo. Shocked and crying continuously, AINA said Girgis kept on pleading, “Sir, I need a lawyer.” He also said he was not guilty. His Muslim defense lawyer had to withdraw at the very last minute, and no other lawyer agreed to defend him, when the presiding judge asked the lawyers present. The case had to be postponed until Jan. 19 to find a lawyer.

As a result, AINA said, the Egyptian Organization for Anti- Discrimination and Defense of Children's Rights (EGHR) issued a statement. The statement said that together with the American Coptic Friendship Association, it will be taking over the defense of Girgis to counteract what it called the “interference of State Security in the role of the judiciary and their efforts to influence it.”

AINA said EGHR also condemned biased media and the intervention of some security chiefs to pressure any lawyer considering defending Girgis.

Two of the EGHR members, Ashraf Edward and Saeed Abdelmassih, volunteered to defend Girgis and attended the Jan. 19 court session.

AINA reported Edward said they traveled from Cairo “under great secrecy for safety reasons, and because they feared that State Security might delay them from appearing in court.”

“The Lawyers' Syndicate in Qena refused to assign a lawyer, and Coptic lawyers are under great pressure and are terrorized by the State Security,” said Abdelmassih. “If Ashraf Edward had not volunteered to defend him, the situation would have been critical.”

The judge adjourned the trial until Feb. 17.

“The State Security is telling us lawyers that whatever your religion or inclinations are, you are not able to defend one defendant, to the extent that not one lawyer had the courage to attend, so we had to get a lawyer from Cairo,” AINA reported Abdelmassih said.

AINA said news media reported that a defense team of 25 lawyers, headed by Islamist lawyer Mohamed el Wahsh, have volunteered to defend the alleged killer, el-Kamony.

AINA reported that Talaat Sadat, MP and a vehement critic of the government said on the Cairo Today talk show that the allegedly raped Abdelwahab was not a virgin, but was previously “used.”

AINA said Sadat was voicing rumors that Abdelwahab had previously been raped by one of her relatives, and that is the reason behind the case remaining unresolved since Nov. AINA commented that many activists believe State Security manufactured evidence against Girgis to make their case against him stick to justify their interpretation of the massacre of Nag Hammadi.

According to Abdelmassih forensics experts only examined the girl and while saying she was not a virgin, said nothing of when she had lost her virginity. They omitted examining Girgis altogether. AINA said a difference existed between the police and the prosecution reports. In the preliminary police report, the girl and her father said there was “an attempt” by Girgis to take her clothes off. “All this changed went it went to the prosecution; instead of the matter being ‘taking off clothes,’ it changed to sexual intercourse.”

AINA reported Abdelmassah said even more surprising was that the investigating officer validated the incident based on what a 12-year-old said, without a single witness.

AINA said Girgis’ lawyers have requested a forensic specialist to examine Abdelwahab, and conduct a new interview with the officer who filed the police report.

“We have inconsistencies in statements, not one single evidence, and no lawyer was present during investigations of the prosecution, because lawyers were afraid to attend to defend a citizen,” AINA reported Abdelmassih said.

AINA said public opinion in Egypt has become so stirred up against Girgis that he is considered guilty before his trial. The majority of those asked are calling for Girgis to receive the death penalty.

EGHR called upon the Egyptian Lawyers' Syndicate to form a committee to monitor the conduct of the investigations in the Girgis case, as it did previously during the case of the Veil Martyr Marwa El-Sherbini.

“Girgis Baroumi is a victim of circumstances which has led him to stand trial before the court and the community at the same time,” AINA reported his defense attorney Edward said.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Now You See Me." Additional details on some of Reynalds' previous books are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 400-7145.