Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Islam'

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Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Islam'

Post by DJKeefy »

Two Coptic Christian children Nabil Nagy Rizk, 10, and Mina Nady Farag, 9, were arrested, Tuesday, for insulting religion in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Beni Suef, after the imam of their local mosque filed a complaint against them.

By order of the prosecution the two boys are now being held in the Beni Suef juvenile detention pending further investigation on Sunday.

Ibrahim Mohamed Ali, the village imam, accused the children of tearing up pages of the Quran.

According to Ahram Online reporter in the area, Ali initially took the children to the church and requested that the priest punish them.

Unsatisfied with the church's decision not to castigate the two boys, Ali, together with three other villagers, turned to the courts.

Nabil's father Nagy Rizk defended the action of the boys in a public statement, explaining that they are illiterate and therefore did not know the content of the papers which they found in a small white bag, as they were playing near a pile of rubbish in the street.

The events in Beni Suef come after a wave of arrests across Egypt of several individuals after they were accused by others of "committing blasphemy."

Most of those arrested were Copts accused of "insulting Islam."

Earlier this month in Sohag, a Copt school teacher, Bishoy Kamel, was sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons deemed defamatory to Islam and Prophet Mohammed on social-networking site Facebook, as well as for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.

This followed the arrest of a Coptic man, 25-year-old Albert Saber, on 13 September, who was charged with insulting religion for allegedly posting the controversial anti-Islam short film, Innocence of Muslims, also on his Facebook page.

Saber, who was referred to Marg Misdemeanor Court, is still in detention awaiting trial.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/54658.aspx


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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by DJKeefy »

Hmmm things don't look good when they start using religion to arrest kids. :(
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by Dusak »

I've said it in the past, we are all doomed. The word of God is far, far mightier than the tourist visa. :st
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by TonyC »

The story above is now carrying the following paragraph at the top:

Breaking:
The two Coptic children have been released Thursday afternoon pending investigation, according to Ahram Online's reporter in Beni Suef.
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by DJKeefy »

No legal basis to 'anti-Islam' charges for Coptic boys: rights defender

The Egyptian Coalition on Children's Rights (ECCR) issued a statement Thursday strongly condemning the arrest of two Coptic Christian children, aged just nine and ten, for "insulting religion" in the upper Egyptian governorate of Beni Suef.

The two boys, Nabil Nagy Rizk, 10, and Mina Nady Farag, 9, from Ezbet Marco village, were detained on Tuesday at the Beni Suef juvenile centre, after local village Iman Ibrahim Mohamed Ali accused them of tearing up pages of the Quran.

The attorney-general subsequently discharged the boys on Thursday but failed to acquit them, telling Ahram Online that a condition of the release was that their parents sign documents promising the boys will return for further questioning.

The rights group statement warned against actions which escalated religious tensions in Egypt and in particular "using children as part of the conflict to ignite sectarian strife."

ECCR General Secretary Hani Helal told Ahram Online that the case had no legal basis.

"The trial is null and void given that the accusations against the children have not been proven," Helal explained, adding that Beni Suef court itself should face legal action for carrying out the order to detain the boys.

ECCR went to the general-prosecutor's office earlier on Thursday to demand their release, particularly as no official state body is overseeing the children's current legal predicament.

Consequently, Helal confirmed, the ECCR legal unit is working on the case. Mina Nady Farag's family has agreed to allow the organisation to represent them.

"These events highlight the need to revise children's rights in the upcoming constitution and to protect their rights as enshrined in international treaties that Egypt is signatory to."

Helal further stressed that it is crucial that religious groups and figures stop igniting the issue by calling for further penalties.

"Such an incident, the attempt to ignite sectarian strife, is creating a state of fear for Egypt's minors and also for the country at large," he stated.

Helal warned that while authorities have released statements condemning recent incidents of discrimination against Coptic Christians, the perpetrators have yet to be penalised.

The events in Beni Suef come after a wave of similar arrests across Egypt.

Earlier this month in Sohag, a Copt school teacher, Bishoy Kamel, was sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons deemed defamatory to Islam and Prophet Mohammed on social-networking site Facebook, as well as for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.

This followed the arrest of a Coptic man, 25-year-old Albert Saber, on 13 September, who was charged with insulting religion for allegedly posting the controversial anti-Islam short film, Innocence of Muslims, also on his Facebook page.

Saber, who was referred to Marg Misdemeanor Court, is still in detention awaiting trial.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/54815.aspx
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by Dusak »

There seems to be a spate of these charges of late, all children and most suffering from some form of mental health disability, makes you wonder.
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by Teddyboy »

I'm amazed that no-one has asked how these pages from the Quran ended up as "papers which they found in a small white bag, as they were playing near a pile of rubbish in the street."? How did they come to be separate from the book? How did they end up near a pile of rubbish in a (presumably) Christian street?

Or perhaps more to the point, who tore them from the Quran and left them there? Is it likely that a Christian would spend (scarce) money to buy a copy of the Quran, and then tear it up and leave bits of it in a paper bag in the street? I can imagine certain stirrers suggesting that someone like the 'village imam' might do such a thing, purposely, to catch out these little boys or someone like them.

Surely the 'blasphemous' action was the initial destroying of the Quran, and dumping the remains in the street rather than the little boy's eventually playing with them?
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Re: Two Coptic children arrested in Egypt for 'insulting Isl

Post by DJKeefy »

Egypt drops blasphemy case against two Christian boys.

Two Egyptian Christian boys detained over charges of blasphemy and insulting the Koran were released and their case was dropped on Wednesday, their defence lawyer said.

The brothers, Mina Nadi, 9, and Nabil Nadi, 10, were accused by locals in the village of Marco south of Cairo of tearing up a copy of the Koran and urinating on it.

They were placed in juvenile detention on 3 October.

"The case has been closed ... and today we knew that the charges were dropped and the children were released after a deal was reached between Muslims, Christians and security officials in the area," said Gamal Eid, a human rights activist and part of the team of lawyers defending the boys.

He did not explain what kind of deal had been reached.

Accusations of blasphemy and inter-faith love affairs have often incited sectarian tension and led to violence in Egypt.

Around 10 per cent of Egypt's 83 million people are Christian, many of whom have been concerned about the political rise of Islamists after a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak last year.

President Mohamed Morsi, who was propelled to power by the Muslim Brotherhood earlier this year, has promised to protect Christians' rights.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/55249.aspx
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