On Monday, Egypt's State Security Court sentenced 12 Christians to life in prison after they were found guilty of sowing public strife, possessing illegal weapons and killing two Muslims in Minya province last April. Eight Muslims were acquitted of possessing illegal weapons and burning down Christian-owned homes and businesses.
AP reports:
The religious tension in Minya spilled over into violence last year when a Muslim microbus driver, angered by a speed bump outside a wealthy Christian man's villa, got into a scuffle with security guards who beat him.
After returning to his village ... that evening, he rounded up the villagers who then gathered outside an ultraconservative Islamist group's main office there to protest his beating.... [T]he Christians nearby thought they were going to be attacked and shot from their rooftops down at the crowd, killing two and wounding two others.
For several days after, angry villagers torched dozens of Christian homes and stores.
The sentences are not appealable, and only the ruling military council can request a retrial.
