Murad (a Muslim lawyer and activist) noted that the issue is “flimsy” from a legal point of view, and the investigation is not based on the testimony of witnesses, significant legal evidence or investigations by security agencies.
Murad told MCN that the case against Abdel Nour was based on a complaint written on 28 April and submitted by three persons well known for their religious extremism. The prosecution promptly started investigation and asked to hear the statements of the complainants, but they sent their children to deliver their statements that were “pure fabrication” against the teacher.
Upon hearing the children’s illegal statement, prosecutors decided to continue with the case and issued an arrest warrant to bring in the accused teacher. The prosecution did not listen to the statements of the complainants except after the teacher was imprisoned, which is illegal.
Murad stressed that the assistant prosecutor in Luxor asked the prosecution, in a telephone conversation, to imprison Abdel Nour until she pays a bail of 20,0000 Egyptian pounds, which is recorded in the prosecution documents.
According to Murad, this has not happened in previous cases of prosecution, which confirms that they insist on punishing the Coptic teacher even before checking the validity of the charge against her. She pointed out that this insistence is clear in the investigation documents.
Human rights activist Murad traveled from Cairo to Luxor with four other lawyers of the Socialist Alliance Party’s Commission of Rights and Freedoms specifically to attend the trial of Abdel Nour held yesterday. Members of some civil parties also attended the hearing in solidarity with the Coptic teacher.
The coordinator of the Islamic Lawyers Association in Luxor had filed a complaint against Coptic teacher Demiana Abdel Nour, who teaches social studies at Sheikh Sultan primary school in Odaysat [south of Luxor].
The lawyer accused her of contempt of Islam, insult of Prophet Mohamed and proselytizing among fourth grade students. The prosecutor of Luxor, on 14 May, referred her to a speedy trial, only a few hours after the prosecutor-general released her on 20,000 pounds bail pending investigation. On Tuesday, the court decided to reserve the case for judgment on 11 June.
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Edited from http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=46311