The court of appeal is expected to issue a verdict in the case of eight young revolutionaries charged with rioting and assaulting police personnel.
The young revolutionaries may be sentenced up to two years in prison in a lawsuit contrived by former Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly’s security apparatus, to punish them for standing in solidarity with Copts against the perpetrators of the bombing of the Two Saints Church.
When the Egyptian revolution erupted, the whole lawsuit was presumed null and void and everybody expected it would be dismissed, particularly after the young men were honored by the Egyptian National Television, several political parties, and Egypt’s churches.
However, on March 29 the court issued a verdict condemning the young revolutionaries to jail. Apparently the judge did not believe they represented the revolution and thought they must be punished as a warning to those who want to tarnish the face of Egypt’s great revolution!
It all started on New Year’s Eve in 2011, when Egypt mourned the killing of more than 26 Egyptians whose only crime was attending midnight Mass in the church to pray to the God of all people for peace and goodwill. The explosion took place outside the church packed with hopeful worshippers praying for a good year for all people.
Immediately after the massacre, many Cairenes rushed to the mostly Coptic Shoubra district to offer condolences and aver Egyptians’ unequivocal condemnation of attacks against worshippers regardless of religion. For the next couple of days, Egypt’s Muslims and Christians took to the streets to protest in condemnation of the massacre and to demand justice.
A number of youth movements organized a protest, outside Massara Church in Shoubra, to avow support and show solidarity with the anguish of the nation. Egyptians stood as one people to protest, forming a human shield to defend freedom of belief and combat sectarian and religious discrimination.
As usual, the former Minister of Interior Affairs’ security apparatus, whose sole mission was to ensure the safety of the regime, surrounded the protest comprised of about 150 protestors, by hundreds of soldiers from Central Security Forces, Special Operations and State Security officers and informants.
Security forces then resorted to violence and started to attack the demonstrations that spread all over the old district, including the protest in front of Massara Church. Protesters were shouting slogans such as “The essence of citizenship is to treat Fatma and Mary as equals,” and “State security forces are brandishing their muscles now, where were they when the church was bombed?”
Central Security Forces used batons and sticks to indiscriminately attack all demonstrators, including women, children, and even the elderly. The young men strived and bravely defended and shielded with their own bodies the elderly and women from the heavy-handed police assault.
Before the protest ended, El-Adly’s police reverted to their favorite scheme: instigating sectarian sedition. They propagated that some Muslims had infiltrated Copts’ protests to manipulate the situation. Christians instantaneously defended their Muslim brothers. They showed tremendous valor in preventing the police from apprehending Muslim fellow-protestors and kept shouting “We will not walk away… not without our Muslim brothers.”
The police managed to convince a clergyman to intervene in order to persuade Christian youths to forsake their Muslim friends on allegations that they are manipulating Copts’ pain and anger to acquire political gain. However, all attempts to drive a wedge between Muslim and Christian protestors fell through, as heroes such as martyr Mena Daniel struggled bravely to defend their friends.
Mena Daniel paid a dear price for defending his friends, Mustafa Mohey, Mohamed Atef, Mustafa Shawky and Mohamed Nagi. The brave Copt was ferociously beaten, and when his clothes were torn off, his attackers saw a tattoo of Jesus Christ on his arm so they asked him “you are a Christian and you defend them?” Mena bravely replied, “They are my Muslim friends and they are much more honorable than you.”
Despite all efforts, the four activists were apprehended and escorted to Road El-Farag police precinct. Shortly afterwards, four other activists: Tamer el-Sady, Ahmed Refaat, Diaa Ahmed and Amr Mohamed, were also apprehended from the midst of different demonstrations in Shoubra. They were led to the same police precinct where they shared—with the first four young men—an extremely tight cell where they hardly had enough space to even sit on the floor. The eight young men were subjected to torture from early in the morning, all the way to the prosecution offices and throughout the investigation, under the very nose of the prosecutor questioning them.
The activists’ attorneys were not allowed to visit their clients to check on their conditions or give them food and water. Thus, the eight young men spent 14 hours in a terribly tiny and filthy cell where they suffered from cold and hunger.
The eight young men were interrogated separately. At the beginning, the prosecutor tried to strike a deal with some of them. He wanted to convince them to waive their right to have their attorney attend the interrogation in return for his help. The activists stuck to their right and demanded their attorneys attend the investigation. Hence, the prosecutor threatened that he will get them all jail sentences.
In an illegal and farcical lineup, police personnel in complicity claimed recognizing the young activists. The prosecutor concluded the collusion aiming to incriminate the eight activists by ordering their swift trial before an emergency court of law.
However, the picture wasn’t that gloomy. In stark contradiction with sadistic officers, obtuse corporals and corrupt prosecutors, the case was assigned to a conscientious judge who ordered the immediate release of all activists pending further investigations into the case.
The eight activists were advised by friends not to participate in any activities until they were finally exonerated of all charges. However, the January 25 Revolution was imminent and Egypt’s youths were not only prepared to go to jail but also to pay with their lives for their freedom.
The lawsuit against the eight activists became something of the past and they were honored by several bodies, parties and authorities, for their brave struggle against the ousted regime before the revolution.
Suddenly, the lawsuit against the eight activists resurfaced! A different judge was assigned to the case and, after two sessions only, he sentenced each one of them to two years in prison and a fine of EGP $200.
The counter-revolution, which is engrained in all state institutions, is currently staging a smear and libel campaign to exact revenge on all revolutionaries. Despite all their wicked efforts, the revolution will continue to inspire hope for freedom, justice and dignity for vulnerable, oppressed and persecuted groups, including laborers, farmers, Bedouins, Nubians and Copts.
No one will ever be able to kill or imprison “hope.” Hence, stalwarts of the ousted regime should either succumb to “hope” or—if they can—let them burn us all.
_________________________________
Translated by Coptic Solidarity