The Supreme State Security Prosecution is investigating a complaint filed by Khaled al-Masry, member of the political office of the Salafi Front and head of the national council for the defence of freedoms, against nine US Copts, including three clerics
The Supreme State Security Prosecution is investigating a complaint filed by Khaled al-Masry, member of the political office of the Salafi Front and head of the national council for the defence of freedoms, against nine US Copts, including three clerics, who were allegedly involved in the production or promotion of the film The innocence of Muslims. The three clerics, who reside outside Egypt are the priests Zakariya Boutros and Morqos Aziz Khalil, and the Bishop Anba Serapion of Los Angeles. Even though Fr Zakariya, whose exact whereabouts are not known, is a harsh critic of Islam, this is not the case with Fr Morqos who is a mild critic, or Anba Serapion who answers allegations by Islamists against Christianity.
The complaint demanded that the three clerics should be arrested, and that the acting patriarch Anba Pachomeus should be questioned regarding the relationship of the Church to the three clerics.
It also demanded that Nicola Bassili Nicola, an Egyptian American who owns a gas station in California should be caught and questioned. It alleged that his in-laws in Alexandria gathered donations for the production of the rogue film, and handed these donations over to a well-known Coptic figure to send them to the Copts in the US.
For his part, the Judge Edward Ghaleb, secretary-general of the Coptic Orthodox Melli (Community or Laity) Council expressed his indignation at the attempt to implicate the Church in the production of the rogue film. The Church, Mr Ghaleb said, was very clear in denouncing the film from Day One.
The lawyer Ramsis Raouf al-Naggar commented that the prosecution responded actively to the Salafi complaint, and dealt very strictly with complaints that involved disdain of Islam, while it took no real action in cases of complaints filed by Copts against disdain of Christianity. “The Church was never, throughout 14 centuries, involved in the disdain of other religions. This goes against the principles of Christian love and tolerance,” Naggar said.
Bishop of Helwan Anba Psanti rejected the attempt to implicate the Church in the production of the rogue film, and described the move as an irresponsible blow to national unity
Anba Pachomeus is expected to hold a press conference tonight to comment on the matter.
Watani International
21 September 2012