Karam Ghabriel, Armia's lawyer, said his client was tortured during his imprisonment and was detained in an execution room. He wascharge.
Ghabriel told MCN that Armia has been maltreated since his arrest. In addition to being detained in an execution room(reserved for those awaiting a capital punishment), he was beaten by policemen during his detention in Minya prison. His request to receive communion or keep a Bible was refused.
Armia is the first convert to go open with his conversion to Christianity in Egypt in more than 10 years. The prosecution arrested him a year ago in Minia under pressure by hardline Islamic groups.
Ghabriel said the Minya Misdemeanor Court had decided to release Armia on bail of 1,000 EGP for the charge of ‘publishing false news,’ but he was never released as the public prosecutor immediately appealed the decision. In a following hearing, the court decided to release him on bail of 200,000 EGP; too large a sum to be collected. In the last hearing, the president of the court decided on July 20, 2014, to release him immediately without bail. Upon completing the release procedures, Armia was immediately rearrested and transferred to the Supreme State Security Prosecution and charged with ‘contempt of religion.’
The lawyer explained that Armia was kept in prison for longer periods than prescribed by law, and that a hearing remains to be scheduled for this new issue.
Ghabriel called on the Prosecutor General to release him. He pointed out that Armia challenged the credibility of the videos based on which he was accused of blasphemy, and asked for a technical expert to check them. Two months later, the expert’s report has yet to come.
The lawyer pointed that it was strange that the MinyaMisdemeanor Court sentence Armia to one year in prison on vague charges such as ‘holding activity that would harm the public interests of the country’ without specifying this activity. At the same time, he was acquitted of the second charge of spreading false news and the third charge of possessing a camera to use in spreading false news. It is noted that the arrest was on September 2, 2013, which means the imprisonment period has already expired.
Ghabriel said he demanded the prison to apply the regulation of the Ministry of Interior that makes the year in prison as only 9 months as long as the crime is not dishonorable. The authorities refused, because he allegedly ‘harmed the country.’
The lawyer says his client complained that the media is ignoring his issue.
He added that the Egyptian state is alleging in international forums that it secures equality among citizens. Yet, conversion to Islam is encouraged by all state institutions, while converts to Christianity are prosecuted by security agencies and threatened with death by militant Islamic groups.
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Edited from: http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=62835#.VU00wGAxGIY