Shazli disappeared last February. Militant Islamists accused Copts and the church in Wasta of hiding her to convert her to Christianity. They also forced Copts to close their shops and businesses and gathered more than once in front of the church of St. George and attacked it, although the church denied their allegations.
Shazli sent three letters to her family from abroad to confirm that she left home willingly and married a Muslim man after she was sexually molested by her uncle.
The lawyers’ complaint underscored that the continued imprisonment of the accused family is illegal because it exceeded the 150-day legal maximum pre-detention and went to 170 days in violation of the law.
The complaint also pointed out that the Coptic defendants are maltreated in their detention and are subjected to torture as a method of pressure to give information about the Copt Abraam Zaki Tawfiq, who is accused of abducting Shazli.
The complaint noted that there is a contradiction in the investigation carried out by the interior ministry, which indicated Shazli has not been kidnapped, that she left her home willingly, and has married a man named Ahmed. The interior ministry then submitted different inquiries alleging that the woman had been kidnapped by Tawfiq, although she had reached the legal age which means she is no longer a minor. This should drop the charge of kidnapping a minor.
The complaint added that accusing Tawfiq’s family of contempt of religion is illogical, as there is no relationship between them and Shazli’s family, and the Tawfiq family has not used any offensive statements in any way.
The complaint called for taking legal action to release the three defendants, Zaki Tawfiq, Souad Akhnoukh, and Peter Bahig, due to lack of charges against them.
It should be noted that Egypt does not allow conversion to Christianity, and Islamist militant groups believe apostates from Islam deserve murder. At the same time, Egyptian authorities facilitate the process of conversion to Islam, which is usually carried out through militants pressuring Coptic girls to convert after abducting them. This occurs with no decisive action by the police to arrest the criminals.
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Edited from http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=49724