The Misdemeanour Appeals Court in Matai yesterday 26 December approved a three-year prison sentence handed by a lower court to the Copt Abdu Adel Ayad, 40, for disdain of Islam.
The story goes back to July 2018 when the Mr Ayad, who comes from the village of Menbal in Matai, Minya, some 250 km south of Cairo, posted on his Facebook page a link for an article that allegedly disdains Islam; the post was said to make comparisons between religions and put Islam at a disadvantage. When news of the post circulated in the village, a mob of village Muslims attacked the houses of the Menbal Copts, as an act of collective punishment against the Copts. Mr Ayad was detained by the police and has been held in custody ever since. The police arrested some 90 Muslim fundamentalist who had spurred the attack against the Copts or participated in it but, a few days later, Minya Security worked out of court conciliation settlement between the Copts and the Muslims, the result of which all the detainees were freed except for Ayad who now faces a three-year sentence.
For details on the July incident:
Watani International
27 December 2018