CAIRO (AP) – An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced a man to die for the April stabbing death of a Coptic Christian priest in an attack that shocked the Arab world’s most populous nation.
Nehru Tawfiq, 60, was convicted in Alexandria criminal court of murder for killing 56-year-old priest Arsanious Wadid and illegal possession of a knife. His lawyers had argued that the killing was not deliberate. Tawfiq can appeal the verdict. Wadid was killed at a popular seaside promenade in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in April.
Investigators found that Tawfiq was an extremist. The attack marked the latest sectarian violence in Egypt.
In September 2017, an alleged supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group stabbed to death an 82-year-old Christian doctor in Cairo. He was sentenced to death the following year.
