The police arrested the two children at midnight before the prosecutor general decided to release them after heavy criticism from human rights organizations. The two children, however, were referred to the juvenile court and the court convicted the children of the incident and ruled to hand them over “to the custody of their families,” which is a penalty in itself.
Karam Gabriel, a lawyer, told MCN that the ruling is contrary to the law and it would be challenged before a higher court of appeal for conclusive legal reasons.
He said the children did not commit the said crime and they should not have been tried. Gabriel said the decision of the prosecutor general on 9 October 2012, to hand the children over to their parents is considered an acquittal and the lawsuit therefore should have been dropped in accordance with this decision.
Gabriel added that the prosecutor general made a mistake when he issued a decision on the lapse of the criminal case, but at the end of his memorandum he called on the court to decide on the trial of the two children.
“How can the two children be prosecuted, according to an article in the Penal Code which applies only to adults, for just a complaint against them without investigating the act,” he wondered. “Especially as the children are illiterate and they were playing next to a canal where there was a lot of garbage dumped by villagers containing all kind of papers, including pages of Islamic and Christian books?”
“This accusation is therefore invalid and it is surprising to try two children on such a charge at a time when several complaints are filed against mature sheikhs for contempt of Christianity and no action has been taken against them.”
Hani Helal, Secretary General of the Egyptian Coalition on the Rights of the Child, said that bringing two children of to trial is illegal, as there is no legal liability on them because they are still young.
“What is happening is a series of violations against children after the January revolution,” Helal added. “Children are targeted. They are sometimes prosecuted for contempt of Islam and sometimes punished physically, for example when the hair of young girls at schools was cut because she did not wear a veil.”
Helal compared between the position of the judiciary against the two children and the sheikhs who insult Christianity on Islamic TV channels, such as Abu Islam.
“These sheikhs are given a wide space to freely disdain other beliefs and they are only summoned by the prosecution when there is a public pressure,” Helal stressed. “They are released on small bails and this is a policy of double standard.”
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Edited from: http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=42872