A court in Egypt on Sunday bailed 48 defendants on trial for involvement in clashes that left 12 dead and two churches destroyed in Giza last year. The case was adjourned until 2 June 2012.

Lawyers for the defendants called for the trial to be adjourned and referred to the constitutional court. They claimed the trial is unconstitutional because it was taking place at the Supreme State Security Court which functions under Egypt's partial lifted emergency law.

The clashes in Imbaba – a district of Greater Cairo – erupted in May 2011 between Muslims and Christians. Twelve people died, 52 were injured and two churches were burnt down. The clashes erupted when a rumour spread among Salafists (ultra-conservative Muslims) that a Christian woman who had allegedly converted to Islam was being held hostage at a church in Imbaba.   

Forty-eight defendants, both Muslims and Christians, were detained during the clashes, including Salafist Sheikh Abu-Yehia. The prosecution accused the defendants of murder, inciting sectarian tension, setting fire to a church, and illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.

Sheikh Abu-Yehia won notoriety in 2010 when he claimed that a Christian woman called Kamilia Shehata had converted to Islam and was being held in a monastery to force her to revert to Christianity. Abu-Yehia unleashed a campaign called “I want my sister Kamilia” that included protests in front of Cairo's St Mark’s Cathedral.

Even after Shehata appeared in a video stating that she was still a Christian, Abu-Yehia continued to insist that she was a Muslim.

Followers of Abu-Yehia maintain that he is innocent of all charges in relation to the Imbaba clashes and is being framed for his involvement in the Shehata case.