The trial of three men accused of gunning down six Christians on the Coptic Christmas Eve starts Saturday before an emergency security court, legal sources said Friday. The three men, identified as Mohamed Kamoni, Qurashi Abul Hagag, and Hindawi el-Sayyed, were charged with premeditated murder aimed at harming national interests. The suspects were arrested a day after they allegedly shot dead the six Copts and a Muslim policeman along a stretch of road with churches and a shopping mall in the southern village of Naga Hammadi on January 6. The drive-by shooting took place after worshippers emerged from midnight mass before Christmas, marked by Copts and other Orthodox communities across the world on January 7. Egyptian human rights activist Hafez Abu Saada said the trial would be the first conducted by a State Security Court over a sectarian attack. Such courts are usually used for terrorism cases and allow no right of appeal. "It's a message of reassurance to the Copts and to affirm the Government's concern towards this case," he said.