Alexandria police and prosecution are investigating an attack that took place on Friday 2 November against the Coptic priest, Father Bijeimi Shawqy, pastor of the Holy Virgin and Archangel Michael church in Assafra.
That fateful Friday, Fr Bijeimi was shocked when, on his way back from pastoral visits at 5.30pm, a man in his thirties intercepted the priest’s car and directed at him a string of abuse. “I’ll slaughter you, you Christians”, he said, and lunged at Fr Bijeimi with a long sword. Fr Bijeimi tilted to the right, and swerved the car a little, thus missing the blow which ended up crashing the car’s side window and leaving some damage in the car. Father Bijeimi said: “I drove away slowly since the district is an overcrowded one; he chased me but couldn’t catch me.
“I went straight to the church and called Anba Pavly, Bishop-General of Montazah. We called the police who asked us to meet them at the scene of the assault. We arrived a few minutes before the police did, only to find the assailant there. Once he saw me he again he attempted to attack me, screaming insults: ‘You’re back you priest, you son of … ? I’ll kill you, you dirty Christians!’
“The police arrived, caught him, and took him to the police station where a report was filed. I later learned that, on the way, he injured two policemen with his sword.”
The assailant was questioned, and investigations are ongoing.
Watani International
12 November 2018