Man who killed Coptic priest is known Islamic fanatic, bishop says

Cairo, October 18, 2017

Photo: vid.alarabiya.net

The man who stabbed Coptic priest Fr. Samaan Shehata to death in the Cairo streets last week is Mohamed Sonbaty, a man well-known to police as a violent Muslim fanatic, according to Abba Estiganous, the bishop of Beba. The deadly assault, by a man who has attacked his own relatives in the past, appears to have been religiously motivated, reports Herald Malaysia Online.

Sonbaty has also set his own house on fire and is known to his neighbors as a violent radical.

While the bishop sees no ambiguity in the motivation for the deadly attack, the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior has not yet commented on the motive. However, Egypt’s prosecutor-general has charged 40-year-old Mohamed Sonbaty with premeditated murder in the killing of Fr. Samaan, who hailed from the Beni Suef Governorate in Upper Egypt, according to Ahram Online.

The priest was in Cairo visiting family and gathering donations for the needy in his parish when the attack occurred. As previously reported, the attacker struck the priest in the head with a cleaver and then fled the scene, according to security officers. Sonbaty was later arrested. Evidence against him currently includes a confession, witness statements, and forensic evidence. A video has also appeared on social media showing the defendant chasing down the priest before striking him several times in the face and body.

The Coptic Church has already hailed Fr. Saaman as a martyr, killed in “hatred of faith,” and appealed to authorities to change “the culture of a nation poisoned by extremism.”

Fr. Samaan’s funeral was held last Friday in Beni Suef, about 70 miles south of Cairo. The ceremony was attended by a number of priests and believers.

Since December, almost 100 Christians have been killed by Islamic State militants in various incidents, including the attack against churches on Palm Sunday, and the bombing of St. Catherine's Coptic cathedral in Abassiya, Cairo, in December of last year.

The Coptic Church is part of the non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox Church.