Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud today decided to release the remaining 23 Copts who were held following clashes that erupted in November between security forces and Coptic protesters over the construction of a church in Omraniya, Giza.
Two protesters were killed and dozens more injured in the clashes.
Security authorities in Giza arrested 158 Coptic protesters for rioting, attacking security forces and resisting authorities.
Ramsis al-Naggar, a lawyer for the Orthodox Church, told the DPA that the decision to release the last 23 detainees constitutes the enforcement of their rights in the absence of adequate legal grounds for extending their detention.
The Attorney General had ordered the release of 135 Copts in three batches on humanitarian grounds. Today he ordered the release of those remaining in detention to enable them to spend Coptic Christmas with their families.
