In May 2013 the man, Mansour Shendy, allegedly posted “derogatory” pictures of Prophet Mohamed and his family, and Muslims in general on his Facebook account. Shendy resided in Jordan at the time, but after a skirmish between Muslims and his family back in the village, the police organized a “customary reconciliation session.”
Shendy and his family were sentenced to exile; it was agreed that they would not return to the village again, Youm7 reported.
“The concept of customary session is catastrophic. It disqualifies the law and is controlled by tribalism and groups extremist on basis of religion,” Mina Thabet, a researcher at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedom told The Cairo Post Saturday.
In Upper Egypt, the concept of thar, meaning revenge or blood debt, dictates that if a family member is killed, a member of the killer’s family must die, which can often spiral into cycles of violence. Reconciliation meetings are seen as a practical means to curb violence and preserve face in the community.
Such sessions are held between the conflicting parties, local officials, and in cases of sectarian cases, Muslim and Christian clerics attend the session to conclude “reconciliation.” The sessions are held between families as well because they, rather than individuals, bear responsibility of any action of a family member.
Shendy’s family, which owns land and properties in the village, returned to town by dusk on Friday. Locals, however, noticed them and clashes erupted, Youm7 reported.
The police arrived and separated the family from the villagers, but as the family insisted on returning to their home, they “prevented” the police from doing their job and were arrested with “large amounts of stones and Molotov cocktails,” according to Youm7’s narrative of the police.
The police said their intervention “saved lives,” condemning that they were not notified of the family’s return, according to Youm7.
“If customs allow injustice, they should not be allowed. Female Genital Mutilation is an ingrained custom, but now we have laws criminalizing it,” Thabet said.
“Under state sponsorship, customary sessions pressure the weaker part of the equation, which is the Copts,” he added.
Minya and sectarian violence
Minya is reportedly the city that witnessed the most violence, sectarianism and damageto public and private properties that spread in several governorates after the dispersal of the Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in in August 2013, where hundreds of supporters of formerPresident Mohamed Morsi were killed at the hands of the police.
During and after the dispersal in Cairo, some 72 people were killed in Minya, including 15 police officers. Six police stations were burned down and raided, dozens of churches and government facilities were torched and hundreds of private properties that belong to Copts were set to fire, according to a report by the secretary general of Minya governorate Osama Tamim published by Ahram newspaper on Sept. 3.
Hundreds were sentenced to death in cases relating to the Minya 2013 violence, but the penalties were later commuted.
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Additional reporting by Hassan Abdel Ghaffarhttp://www.thecairopost.com/news/137400/news/coptic-family-arrested-for-returning-home-after-exile-sentence