Islamist judges and blasphemy charges, new weapons against Christians
Cairo, 18 May 2013: Judges affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist imams
are jeopardising the safety and survival of Egypt's Coptic Christians, sources, anonymous
for security reasons, told AsiaNews. Backed by controversial Attorney General Talaat
Abdhallah, more and more judges are in fact accepting allegations of blasphemy and
insults to religion.
"The presence of radical imams in mosques in Upper Egypt
villages is another problem," one source said. "They incite the largely illiterate
population against Christians."
Minority Copts have in fact become the victims
of assault, arsons and bombings on a daily basis. The latest case occurred on Wednesday
in a village in Minya District (Upper Egypt) where a mob of more than 2,000 Muslims
attacked Coptic-owned shops and homes and tried to burn down the local church, which
is dedicated to St Theodore Coptic.
"Copts have lived with these problems for
years," the source added, "which are often resolved through the intervention of religious
authorities, and reconciliation. However, the rising number of complaints about blasphemy
or proselytising is a reason of concern. In fact, judges once were reluctant to deal
with such complaints out of fear that they might spark sectarian violence, now blasphemy
charges are one of the easiest ways to attack the Christian minority thanks to the
support of Islamist officials." In recent weeks, the case of Dimyana Ubeid Abdel
al-Nour become front-page news. The 23-year-old Christian teacher at a primary school
in Luxor was arrested on 8 May for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad in class.
Faced
with a large number of calls for her release, Prosecutor General Abdhallah freed her
on bail (US$ 2,900), a huge sum for the young woman's family. Yet, Dimyana is still
in prison where she began a hunger strike ahead of her trial on 21 May.