The Prosecutor-General Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid last Monday issued a resolution compelling the Interior Ministry to execute the ruling issued last February by the Supreme Administrative Court requiring the ministry to furnish Christians who had converted to Islam then reverted to their original Christianity with Id documents citing their Christian religion. The February ruling had involved 12 Christian re-converts, but the Interior Ministry has so far refused to issue ID papers legalising their Christian religion.
Some 1500 Christian-born converts who later reverted to Christianity—including many who were automatically forced into Islam once one of their parents converted—are awaiting a ruling by the Constitutional court to determine their right to revert to Christianity. The Supreme Administrative Court had referred the question to the Constitutional Court to determine the constitutionality of Article 47 of the Constitution which stipulates the right of individuals to have changes or corrections regarding their nationality, religion, or profession introduced to the ID documents. The question was whether Article 47 conflicted with Article 2 which stipulates Islamic sharia as the main source of legislation. The court is still waiting for a report from its legal experts on the matter.