Coptic Oppression – Page 7 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Egypt: “Muslim Mob” of 3,000 – Mob Attacks Christian Businesses, Individuals — Rioting Spreads in Upper Egypt

— reports on mob violence against Coptic Christians in Farshoot and Abou Shousha

— AINA reports “Muslim Anti-Christian Riots Spread in Upper Egypt, Video Shows Looting and Burning”
— “On Monday November 23, 2009 Muslim rioters looted and burned Coptic Christian businesses in the village of Abou Shousha, which lies 25 KM from Farshoot. The terrorized Coptic inhabitants of Abou Shusha have stayed indoors, their shops are closed and their children are being kept away from school. They fear a repeat in their village of the Muslim violence which engulfed the town of Farshoot less than 36 hours earlier (AINA 11-22-2009).”
— “The Middle East Christian Association (MECA) reported that at least three large Coptic stores and a pharmacy were looted and burnt in Abou Shusha and that the fire brigade arrived one hour late, although their headquarters is only 8 KM away from the village. “They gave the pretext of being busy in Farshoot, which is untrue, as Farshoot had a quiet night,” said Wagih Yacoub of MECA. ‘Coptic and Muslim neighbors tried to put the fire out.’ A video posted by Free Copts shows the Abou Shusha fires.”
— “Bishop Kirrillos of Nag Hamady Diocese said that a mob from the neighboring village of Abu Tesht torched the businesses in Abou Shusha. MECA reported that three girls were assaulted in the street by having bricks hurled at them. No serious injuries were reported.”
— “It is estimated that over 80% of Coptic businesses have been destroyed in the 48 hours of violence in Farshoot. A video prepared by Free Copts advocacy shows Muslim mobs chanting Allah Akbar (God is Great) while looting and burning Coptic businesses and shops.”

AINA: "A video posted by Free Copts shows the Abou Shusha fires."

— YouTube Video Link

— AINA reports on mob attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt:
— “Since early morning on Saturday, November 21, the Upper Egyptian town of Farshoot, as well as the neighboring villages of Kom Ahmar, Shakiki and Ezbet Waziri, has been the scene of ongoing Muslim mob violence against Coptic Christian inhabitants. The mob looted, vandalized and burnt Coptic property, while Copts hid indoors fearing to venture out. Reuters Cairo reported that a witness said ‘chaos is overwhelming (in the city).’ ”
— “The Violence is still going on. There are reports that seven Coptic women have been abducted.”
— “Witnesses said that nearly 3000 angry Muslims have congregated since the early morning in front of the Police Headquarters in Farshoot, in an effort to kidnap Girgis Baroumi while being transported to court to renew his detainment, in order to kill him. Bishop Kirollos said it was agreed with the family of the Muslim girl Yousra to await the Court decision ‘but they did not wait for that.’ ”
— “Coptic priest Rev. Benjamin Noshi was driving his car when the mob stopped and assaulted him, fracturing his skull. He is currently in hospital.”
— “By the evening most Coptic businesses were looted and burnt. ‘They are destroying the Coptic economy in these areas,’ says Wagih Yacoub of Middle Eadt Christian Association”.
— “A witness said that some Coptic families were thrown out of their homes, which were occupied by Muslims.”
— “Although security forces were deployed, they are not taking any action to stop the violence, they are stationed to protect the Farshoot police headquarters after the angry mob pelted it with stones before going in and attacking the officers. Chief Investigating Officer Essam Hany was injured along with others.”
— “Witnesses said that the Police watched the mob but made no arrests and were just dispersing the mob from one street, only for them to appear in the next.”

— “The violence was prompted by reports of sexual abuse of a girl by 21 year-old Copt Guirgis Baroumi, from Kom Ahmar, on Wednesday November 18, 2009. The 12-year-old Muslim girl has been identified as ‘Yousra.’ Girgis is detained by the police pending investigations and awaiting results of forensics. Many Copts believe that the rape incident is by Muslims to use it as a pretext to start violence against them.”
— “In an interview with Free Copts, Bishop Kirollos said that the attacks were definitely preplanned and made use of the students from Al-Azhar Institute in Farshoot. He also pointed out to the failing role of the security forces, which disappeared without giving proper justifications, despite several demands by the church to put an end to these grave violations against Christians and their property.”
— “He also added that even if the story of the indecent assault on the Muslim teenager was true, this was purely an individual incident and does not call for an attack on masses of peaceful Christians, who denounced this individual act which does not comply with Christian teachings. ‘So why the barbaric attacks by the mobs? and why have the security forces not stopped them?’ ”

— Additional R.E.A.L. reports on Coptic oppression in Egypt

ICC Report: “Religious Freedom Not a US Priority toward Allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia”

ICC reports: “Religious Freedom Not a US Priority toward Allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia”

“Washington DC (November 23, 2009) – A hearing was recently held on Religious Freedom in the Middle East which exposed the failure of the State Department and President Obama to address Human Rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.”

“On November 18, Chairman, Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY), as well as other congress representatives, questioned the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael H. Posner, on the State of Political and Religious Freedom in the Middle East. It was evident that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both close allies of the US, have not been pressured into compliance with international human rights laws.”

“Egypt, the world’s number two recipient of American aid, having received roughly $1.3 billion per year in military compensation and more than $500 million per year in economic assistance since 1979, blatantly violates international human rights laws without penalty. The responsibility for the sudden surge of persecution against Coptic Christians, an explicit assault on religious freedom, is deliberately dismissed by the Egyptian government. When Assistant Secretary Posner was asked if measures are being taken to ensure that Egypt is kept liable for its offenses, no strategic plan was presented. It was also concluded that America does not use its foreign assistance as leverage to demand that Egypt adhere to international human rights laws.”

“In the same way, Saudi Arabia, a government that denies recognition or protection of any religion other than Sunni Islam, and whose constitutional principles are founded on Sharia law, is not held accountable by the US for its human rights abuses.”

“When asked by Representative Ackerman if the US places any conditionality upon trade with Saudi Arabia or aid given to Egypt in regards to human rights offenses, Assistant Secretary Posner replied, ‘Has it been done? It’s been done… in various ways and various places. Could it be done more? Yes. Should it be done more? Yes.’ ”

“Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager of the Middle East, said, ‘Avoiding a strategic plan to address the fundamental democratic principles of religious freedom has not been a top priority of the US government toward Egypt for years. The US is a light to democratic values, and must take the lead in promoting and exporting democratic principles to countries that violate human rights laws. We ask President Obama to develop a strategic plan by applying human rights sanctions on US assistance to Egypt and US dealings with Saudi Arabia, to nominate a Religious Freedom Ambassador, and to affirm human rights as a core objective of US foreign policy.’

Egypt: 15 Year Old Egyptian Convert to Christianity Sends Plea to Obama — Dina el-Gowhary

AINA reports:

— 15 Year Old Egyptian Convert to Christianity Sends Plea to Obama

15-year-old Egyptian girl Dina el-Gowhary, who converted from Islam to Christianity, has sent a plea to President Obama, complaining of mistreatment by the Egyptian Government and asking for his mediation. “Mr President Obama,” she writes, “we are a minority in Egypt. We are treated very badly. You said that the Muslim minority in America are treated very well, so why are we not treated here likewise? We are imprisoned in our own home because Muslim clerics called for the murder of my father, and now the Government has set for us a new prison, we are imprisoned in our own country.”

The handwritten Arabic letter, posted on Coptic websites, also says “I am 15 years old but I still have hope that my message will reach President Obama.”

The el-Gowhary family was barred from leaving Egypt on September 17, 2009 without any legal reason. They were told, however, that the order came from a higher authority (AINA 9-26-200).

Dina, is the daughter of 57-year-old Maher el-Gowhary, also known by his Christian name Peter Athanasius, who embraced Christianity secretly 35 years ago. In August, 2008 he filed the second ever lawsuit of a Muslim-born Egyptian against the Egyptian Government to officially alter his identification documents to reflect his new Christian identity. He lost the case in June 2009. According to the Court ruling, the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic Sharia law and poses a threat to the “Public Order” in Egypt. (AINA 6-16-2009). He appealed the ruling.

Maher and Dina have been living in hiding ever since he filed his lawsuit because Muslim clerics have called him an apostate and several Fatwas (religious edicts), for ‘spilling his blood’ have been issued. He frequently changes where he lives to evade being killed, and friends supply him with food. “We cannot sleep, eat or go out in the street,” he said. He believes that the authorities are putting pressure on them (he and Dina) to re-convert back to Islam, “but this will never happen, even if we have to live on the streets. We love our Lord Jesus, and we have left Islam for good.”

Peter Athanasius and 15 year old Daughter Dina — Peter Athanasius (aka Maher el-Gowhary) and 15 year old Daughter Dina el-Gowhary

Egypt: “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt”

A new report entitled “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt” has been released by the Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights on the ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity of Coptic Christian women in Egypt.

Coptic Christian Women Reportedly Kidnapped for Forced Conversion to Islam (AINA)

Preface of the report reads:

“Reports of Muslim men abducting and forcibly marrying and converting Coptic Christian women and girls have filtered out of Egypt with increasing frequency over the past decade. The emerging patterns of force, fraud and coercion correspond to definitions of human trafficking used by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State., with the UN identifying it as a ‘crime against humanity’.1 These violations of fundamental human rights appear to be encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt – often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They appear to be further abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to thoroughly investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.”

“Details of trafficking cases involving Copts often reach the West through desperately worried relatives of victims. When the Egyptian police fail to find and return (or often even search for) victims of abduction, forced marriage and conversion, some relatives summon the courage to release information and photos to Coptic human rights organizations in the diaspora.”

“The violent abuse of Coptic women and girls in connection with forced marriage and conversion is not altogether new. The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, protested against this phenomenon in 1976, declaring: ‘There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.’2 But the issue has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community.”

“As the prestigious Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly recently noted:

‘It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. Two other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.’3 ”

“Despite the accumulation of substantial evidence and the expressions of concern by the most senior leader of the Coptic community, this aspect of human trafficking has scarcely been acknowledged by the world’s most powerful human rights institutions, including those dedicated to the issue of trafficking in persons. The Coptic Foundation for Human Rights and Christian Solidarity International (CSI) therefore commissioned an anti-trafficking specialist, Michele Clark, and a Coptic women’s rights advocate, Nadia Ghaly, to undertake an investigation of allegations surrounding the abductions and forced marriages and conversions to Islam in Egypt. They performed outstanding pioneering work, interviewing victims, their relatives, lawyers, priests and other Coptic community leaders.”

“This report documents dozens of specific cases and demonstrates consistent patterns used by the perpetrators, their victims, government and law enforcement, and members of Egypt’s faith communities. The report concludes with a valuable set of practical and critical recommendations for the Coptic community, the Government of Egypt and the international community. The findings of Ms. Ghaly and Ms. Clark are deeply disturbing, and should challenge human rights activists and institutions, especially those whose mandate includes women’s rights and trafficking in persons, to undertake, as a matter of urgency, further research into this form of gender and religious based violence against Coptic women and girls in Egypt.”

1 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Human Trafficking.”
U.S. Department of State. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

2 Mary Abdelmassih. AINA, “Family of abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted by Muslim Mob”, Cairo, June 9, 2009.

3 Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 September 2009; no.963

Copt Myrna Hanna "abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a 'customary marriage contract' by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad" — Copt Myrna Hanna - AINA states she was "abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a 'customary marriage contract' by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad" (AINA)

Copt Amira Morgan - Kidnapped and Forced Conversion to Islam — Copt Amira Morgan - Reportedly Kidnapped and Forced Conversion to Islam (AINA)

Copt Marian Bishay - Reportedly Kidnapped and Converted to Islam - 15 years old (AINA)

Copt Irene Labib - Reportedly Kidnapped by Muslim man (AINA)

Copt Rania Tawfik Assad - Kidnapped (and Reportedly Recovered) - Muslim Brotherhood Linked Group Member Sought Her Forced Conversion to Islam — Copt Rania Tawfik Assad - Reportedly Kidnapped (and Recovered) - Muslim Brotherhood Linked Group Member Sought Her Forced Conversion to Islam (AINA)

Copt Nermeen Mitry - Reportedly Kidnapped (and Recovered) "by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam" — Copt Nermeen Mitry - Reportedly Kidnapped (and Recovered) "by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam (AINA)

——————–

Media Reports:

— “Report Exposes Forced Conversions of Christian Women in Egypt”

— “Human trafficking caused by religion: Christian teenagers victimized in Muslim countries”

— “Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women”

— “Christian org to Obama: Egypt gov’t complicit in ‘raping’ Coptic girls”

Additional R.E.A.L. Reports on Freedom for Copts

Egypt: “Coptic Family Forced to Surrender Woman Rescued in Egypt”

“Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”

Egypt – AINA Report: “Abduction and Forced Islamization of Christian Coptic Girls Continues in Egypt”

“Egyptian Security Refuses to Return Abducted Christian Coptic Girl”

Egypt: Two Christians Coptic Girls Abducted for “forced Islamization”

Egypt – Convert Woman Arrested for Marrying Christian

Egypt: “Family of Abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted By Muslim Mob”

Egypt: Report on Increasing Extremist Intolerance to Women, Christians

DC: Egyptian Coptic Christians Protest for Human Rights, Equality, as President Obama Meets Mubarak

DC: Egyptian Copt Christian Group Holds Press Conference

Egyptian Christian Monk Father Aghabeos El-Moharkee Reports Death Threats

Egyptian Christian Monk Father Aghabeos El-Moharkee Reports Death Threats
— to Voice of the Copts
— St. Mary Monastery – Assuiet – Egypt

Egypt: Christian Coptic Blogger in Egypt Threatens Hunger Strike

Compass Direct News reports:

Coptic Blogger in Egypt Threatens Hunger Strike

Authorities deny Christian’s application for release.
ISTANBUL, November 9 (CDN) — A Coptic Christian blogger in Egypt held in prison for more than a year without charge said today he will go on a hunger strike unless authorities grant his next application for release.

Hani Nazeer, a 28-year-old high school social worker from Qena, Egypt and author of the blog “Karz El Hob,” received word today that his latest application for release, sent to the Ministry of the Interior a week ago, was denied. His attorneys said they would re-apply for his release tomorrow.

The interior ministry did not “supply the grounds for refusal” according to Rawda Ahamad, Nazeer’s lead defense attorney.

“He has no charges against him,” Ahamad said. “He is not a criminal. He must be released immediately. He’s an innocent man – anyone exposed to this severe injustice would do the same.”

On Oct. 3, 2008, Nazeer was arrested by Egypt’s State Security Investigations (SSI) and sent to Burj Al-Arab prison. Although police never charged him with any crime, Nazeer has been detained for more than a year under Egypt’s administrative imprisonment law.

Nazeer ran afoul of SSI officers a few days before his arrest when a group of local teenagers visited his website and clicked on a link to an online copy of “Azazil’s Goat in Mecca,” a novel written under the pseudonym “Father Utah.” The book is a response to “Azazil,” a novel by Yusuf Zidane, critical of Christianity.

Insulting religion is illegal in Egypt, but the law is enforced unequally. Zidane’s critique of Christianity garnered him fame and awards throughout the Arab world. Nazeer’s website link cost him his freedom, despite the fact that police have never publicly produced any evidence linking Nazeer to Utah’s work. After Nazeer was arrested, posts continued on Utah’s website.

Nazeer has reported to his attorneys that he has been placed in prison with felons, some of them violent. He also claims that prison authorities have pressured him to convert to Islam.

Gamel Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, the group representing Nazeer, stood by his client’s accusations, saying police have urged inmates to suggest to Nazeer that officers would work to free him if he were to convert to Islam.

Nazeer’s situation is complicated by the fact that his writings upset both Islamic authorities and the hierarchy of the Coptic Orthodox Church. On one hand, he criticized the increasing Islamization of Egyptian civil society. On the other, he lamented the political involvement of the Coptic Orthodox Church. In one post, Nazeer wrote that a gathering of activists at a Coptic church was inappropriate because churches were meant to be venues for prayer, not for politics.

According to Eid, Nazeer was arrested with the complicity of leaders in the Coptic Orthodox Church. In October of 2008, police detained Nazeer’s relatives at a police station and threatened to hold them until he came out of hiding. Nazeer turned himself into the police station on the advice of Bishop Kirollos of Nag Hammadi, Nazeer reported to his attorneys. Kirollos assured Nazeer he would be detained no more than four days and then be released.

Kirollos had denounced Nazeer to security, Nazeer told his attorneys.

All attempts to reach Kirollos about his alleged involvement in Nazeer’s arrest were unsuccessful. Several attempts to reach Bishop Anba Yoannes, authorized to speak about the case on behalf of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s Pope Shenouda III, were also unsuccessful. Egypt’s SSI, a political police force run by the Interior minister, routinely declines to comment on cases.

This week’s application will be sent to a court within the Ministry of the Interior. But under the emergency law, police officials have the power to ignore court orders. When local police execute a court order to release prisoners held under Egypt’s emergency law, security police commonly re-arrest them minutes later.

The law, enacted after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, allows authorities to hold people without charge. Eid estimated that there are approximately 14,000 people imprisoned under this law. In 2005, while running for re-election, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised to replace the contested law. But in May of 2008, the Egyptian government extended the law for two more years.

Mamdouh Nakhla, an attorney and civil rights activist in Egypt, said oppression of Coptic Christians is common and that many police officers in Egypt are the “agents of persecution.” At best, he said, they are complicit in acts of persecution. At worst, he added, police collude with others hostile to Christianity.

“They give green lights to Islamists, and protect them, and give them the feeling that they are immune from prosecution,” he said.

Egyptian Security Arrests Several Christians for Praying At Home

Egyptian Security Arrests Several Christians for Praying At Home
— AINA reports

Egypt (AINA) — On October 24, 2009 Egyptian State Security arrested a Christian Copt in the village of Deir Samalout, Samalout, Minia province, for praying “without a license.” He was held in prison for two days before being released on “compassionate grounds.” Maurice Salama Sharkawy, 37 years old, had invited Pastor Elia Shafik, to conduct the sacrament of the ‘Anointing of the Sick’ for his sick father, who had suffered a stroke. State Security broke into his house while the prayers were ongoing, handcuffed Maurice, put him into a police car and took him to a police station for interrogation.

Authorities accused him of carrying out “religious rites without a license” and “causing sectarian sedation” by calling a priest into the village. A number of his cousins living in the same family house and who attended the prayers were also detained with him.

State Security has placed Maurice under observation by three policemen.

In an audio interview with Wagih Yacoub of Middle East Christian Association (MECA), Maurice said that State Security told him he should have gone to them first to obtain permission before carrying out any religious rites. He was also advised by Security that there are twelve Muslim houses in the village and that would create sectarian clashes.

The son of the village mayor filed a complaint that the Copt Maurice has converted his home into a place of worship without obtaining a governmental license to host performances of religious rites.

The police record of the investigation states the defendant called for this prayer meeting, which raised the anger of a number of Muslim neighbors who complained to the mayor of the village. The village of Deir Samalut has no church, and the nearest one is in the village of el Tayeba, over five miles away.

Mohammed Khalaf Allah, mayor of the village Deir Samalout, told al-Sherouk newspaper that Maurice used to invite Copts in his home, and that he asked him more than once to go to church (in the next village) and “pray there but he claimed that he could not go to church and that the priest visits him at home for ordinary matters, which is common among Christians.” The mayor also said: “The villagers confirmed to me more than once that the sound of prayer comes out of Maurice’s house, and that he refuses to go to church and decides to pray in his own home together with a number of the village Copts.”

Commenting on the latest incident, Rev. Moses Raphael of the Samalout Coptic Orthodox Diocese said the arrest of the village Copts for praying at home is not uncommon. “Such a matter comes as no surprise; it has become common in Minya to prevent Christians from praying.”

Given the recent security clampdown on Christians praying in places outside their licensed churches, Youssef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of the Coptic Watani newspaper, blames the State as the main party standing in the way of promulgating the unified law for building places of worship which, would put an end to these human rights transgressions. “Authorities turn a blind eye to Constitutional provisions of equality and freedom of belief.” He said. “They terrorize worshippers who dare conduct services outside a licensed church, treating them as law violators, despite the fact that the root problem lies in the authorities’ reluctance to permit the erection of new churches or restore existing ones.”

Egyptian Christians Fear More Muslim Violence

Egyptian Christians Fear More Muslim Violence
— AINA reports: “Egyptian security forces have intensified their presence in the Upper Egyptian town of Dairout, in anticipation of a recurrence of Muslim violence against Christians. Copts expressed their fear over leaflets entitled ‘These have to Die!’ which are being distributed to all Muslims in Dairout and neighborhoods, enticing them to ‘burn, vandalize and clean the country of these evil immoral infidels.'”

Egypt: Coptic Blogger in Egypt Pressured to Convert in Prison

COMPASS Direct News reports:

Christian critical of Islamization of society, Orthodox church jailed without charges.
ISTANBUL, October 31 (CDN) — A Coptic Christian blogger in Egypt entering his second year of prison without charge is being pressured to convert to Islam in exchange for his freedom, his attorneys said.

On Oct. 3, 2008, Hani Nazeer, a 28-year-old high school social worker from Qena, Egypt and author of the blog “Karz El Hob” (“Love Cherries”), was arrested by Egypt’s State Security Investigations (SSI) and sent to Burj Al-Arab prison. Although police never charged him with any crime, Nazeer has been detained for more than a year under Egypt’s administrative imprisonment law.

Gamel Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the group representing Nazeer, said Nazeer was arrested unfairly and now is being coerced to abandon his faith.

“Hani complains about that, it happened, and it’s true,” said Eid. “But the police do it in a subtle way. They do it by inspiring the inmates to suggest to Nazeer that if he converts to Islam, police will work to get him out of prison.”

Nazeer is confined in what is commonly known as the “general population” area of the prison, meaning he is housed with both violent and non-violent felons. Nazeer told his attorneys he is often treated harshly. Despite this, Eid said Nazeer is constant in his faith.

A few days before his arrest, on Oct. 1, 2008, a group of young Muslims in Nag Hammadi saw his website and clicked on a link to an online copy of “Azazil’s Goat in Mecca,” a novel written under the pseudonym “Father Utah.” The book is a response to “Azazil,” a novel critical of Christianity by Yusuf Zidane that is famous in Egypt.

While Zidane’s critique of Christianity garnered him awards throughout the Arab world, locals protested the link to Utah’s site.

Insulting religion is considered a crime in Egypt, although typically the law is only enforced when Islam is criticized. Police have not publicly produced any evidence linking Nazeer to Utah’s work. After Nazeer was arrested, posts continued on Utah’s website. It is unclear if the teenagers who saw Nazeer’s website and were offended were students at his school.

Eid said the deeper issue was that Nazeer upset Islamic authorities by criticizing the increasing Islamization of Egyptian civil society and irked church leaders by lamenting political involvement of the Coptic Orthodox Church. In one post, Nazeer wrote said that a gathering of activists at a Coptic church was inappropriate because churches were meant to be venues for prayer, not for politics.

Police had detained Nazeer’s relatives at a police station and threatened to hold them until he came out of hiding, Eid said, and Nazeer turned himself into a police station in October 2008 – on the advice of Bishop Kirollos of Nag Hammadi, Nazeer reported to his attorneys.

Kirollos assured Nazeer he would be detained no more than four days and then be released. According to Nazeer and the ANHRI, the bishop colluded with authorities to get rid of Nazeer, whose online criticism had become bothersome.

“[Kirollos] is the one who turned me in after he denounced me to security,” Nazeer told his attorneys. “He bluffed [that] we were going for a short investigation and it will be all over. Then I found out it was a charade to turn me in to state security.”

Eid claimed the arrest achieved two complementary goals for police and Kirollos – calming those protesting “Azazil’s Goat in Mecca,” and silencing a blogger who had been critical of Islamic hardliners and the Coptic Orthodox Church.

All attempts to reach Kirollos were unsuccessful. Several attempts to reach Bishop Anba Yoannes, authorized to speak about the case on behalf of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s Pope Shenouda III, were also unsuccessful. Egypt’s SSI, a political police force run by the Interior minister, routinely declines to comment on cases.

Release Orders Invalidated
Nazeer’s attorneys are set to appeal his imprisonment on Sunday (Nov. 1), but it is unclear how or even if the appeal will affect his case. Courts have ordered Nazeer’s release several times before. The SSI has rendered the orders for release invalid by invoking the country’s longstanding emergency law, which supersedes court authority.

When local police execute a court order to release prisoners held under the emergency law, security police commonly re-arrest them minutes later. The law, enacted after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, allows authorities to hold people without charge. Eid estimated that there are approximately 14,000 people imprisoned under this law.

Eid said Nazeer’s case is extremely difficult.

“Hani is in between the hate of the Islamists and the hate of the Christians,” he said. “The Islamists of course are against him, and the church [leadership] is against him, so he’s being badly squeezed between the two.”

Kalldas Fakhry Girgis, Nazeer’s cousin, saw him 15 days ago. Girgis said that despite Nazeer’s confinement, he is in good spirits. He remains strong in his faith and his convictions.

“He wants to know why he’s been arrested,” Girgis said about his cousin. “He’s hopeful. His morale is high. But he is feeling stressed.”

Egypt arrests 30 in Muslim-Copt clashes — Muslim residents hurl stones at church construction workers

Egypt arrests 30 in Muslim-Copt clashes — Clashes erupt as Muslim residents protest plans to increase size of Church tower, put bell.
— Middle East Online reports: “Muslim residents began hurling stones at Christian construction workers after hearing that the church was planning to increase the size of its tower and put in a bell, the official said.”
— “Thirty people were arrested on Wednesday after Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed over the building of a church tower in a village in southern Egypt, a security official said. Three people were injured in the clashes which broke out late on Tuesday in Al-Badraman, in Minya province.”