EZBET BASILLIOUS, Egypt — Villagers in Ezbet Basillious, Minya, suspect local police in Egypt of corruption and collusion after two Copts were arrested for an arson attack on their own house church July 11.
Egyptian State Security Investigations officers later arrested three Muslim suspects in accordance with eyewitness testimony that local police had ignored. The Muslim suspects were seen entering the Church of St. Abaskharion Kellini with cans of kerosene and leaving shortly after, shouting “Allahu Akbar (God is great).”
The two Copts who were arrested, 35-year-old Reda Gamal and Fulla Assad, 30, are still in custody. Suspicions of police collusion come not only from the inexplicable arrests of the Copts but also from the lack of police presence while the church was burning. Guards who were stationed outside the property had left their posts and, according to some reports, had moved to a nearby café and were drinking tea while the property burned.
A source told Compass Direct News that the head guard and a village guard were heard telling people, “Say Reda set fire to the church.” “So the local police were involved,” the source said.
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