Attacks on Copts Are Terrorist Acts Designed to Unravel Egyptian Fabric, Says Judge El-Gebali

In her speech during the “Egyptian Christians Will Not be a Scapegoat” conference, Gebali said the Muslim Brotherhood did not read history and that they are reproducing their “corrupt goods.” The conference was organized by the Mass Action Coordinating Committee for Egyptian Women and Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination (MARED) in Cairo.

The judge asserted that national security is not a matter of “point of view,” and whoever cannot afford the responsibility of national security has to step down.

For her part, Dr. Amna Nusair, a professor of Islamic law, sent an apology to Copts for the repeated attacks that occurred against them, demanding the state stand rigorously in the face of the aggressors so that Egyptian citizens do not feel disappointed in their government.

The conference displayed the documentary videos made by MCN on the attacks that occurred against Copts in Nag Hassan in Dabeya, Luxor (Upper Egypt), in the villages of Delga and Beni Ahmed Sharqiya in Minya, and in the village of Diabeya in Wasta, Beni Suef.

A number of eyewitnesses from Beni Ahmed, Minya attended the conference and some of them only gave audio contributions for fear of threats by Islamists in the village.

The first witness said the events began in the village of Beni Ahmed Sharqiya when a dispute occurred between a Christian and a Muslim in a coffee shop over a national song.

He pointed out that the dispute was resolved, but after the iftar (breakfast in Ramadan), people from seven neighboring villages came to the village after they heard a rumor that a mosque was burned with Muslims inside. When the police came, the Coptic homes and shops had been torched and no authority promised to compensate the affected Copts, although they have no other source of livelihood.

This was confirmed by the second and third witnesses who gave their testimony.

The fourth witness, named Hanna, said the melee occurred because of a song, and he did not know why all this happened. He pointed out that rumors spread that Christians burned the mosque and killed 16 Muslims, which did not happen.

Hanna called on the state to enforce the law and to protect Christians in Egypt. He added that the security agencies failed to protect Copts, especially in the province of Minya, where the security was watching the attacks and took no decisive step to intervene.

For his part, Father Ayoub Youssef, priest of St. George Coptic Catholic Church in Delga, said that after the broadcast statement by Gen. Sisi (Egyptian defense minister) at about 9 p.m. on July 3, more than 500 people attacked the church’s services building, where he dwells.

They looted the building and destroyed what they could not loot. The priest added that the security forces were languid, and the head of police investigation finally arrived at 5 a.m. and did not request even one fire truck.

Ibrahim Edward, a lawyer and observer of the events, said it is a disgrace to the Egyptian state and the Interior Ministry to leave Egyptian Copts to suffer such acts in this country, as they are Egyptian citizens.

“In Minya, I found security complicit with those who attacked Copts according to the testimony of witnesses. There was a policeperson assaulting Copts and burning their homes. Officers were having the iftar and sohour meals with the attackers,” Edward added.

The lawyer urged cleansing the Interior Ministry of such persons. He pointed out that a twelve-year-old child was arrested to put pressure on Copts to accept the so-called “customary reconciliation meetings.”

Safwat Samaan, a lawyer and a witness to the events at Nag Hassan in Dabeya, noted that four Christians were killed and 41 houses were destroyed and burned.

He added that the events began when people found a dead Muslim named Hassan and accused two Copts of killing him. The incident turned from a “criminal” to a “sectarian” issue.

“We called the security agencies, but only a few troops came late, after aggressors had killed the victims,” Samaan said.

Samaan added that he has documented 65 cases of abduction in Nag Hammadi, of whom 58 Copts paid a ransom ranging from 100 thousand to 500 thousand EGP, noting that Christians are kidnapped because they do not belong to tribes, because tribes protect their members.

The Coptic lawyer stressed that the contempt of religion law is applied to Copts only, pointing to the issue of the Coptic teacher Demiana Ebeid Abdel Nour. The prosecutor imprisoned her after refusing to hear the denial testimonies of the school principal, the educational administration and the 10 children in the charges against her on contempt of religion and preaching Christianity.

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Edited from: http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=48318#.UgquwxZzqlI