Alexandria judicial authorities have decided that there was no case against the three Christian men now famous as the ‘date preachers’. The three men had been caught during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last year, July 2015, during which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
In a gesture of brotherly love, the 16-year-old Christian Fawzy Ussama Ibrahim had been handing out small packages of dried dates to people on the street at sunset, the time for breaking their fast. The packages included a message of greeting, signed with the website address of the church the young man belongs to. A bearded man caught Ibrahim and led him to the police station; the young Christian called two friends, Stephen Boutros and Shady Said, who came to support him but they were all arrested. The prosecution investigated the charge against them that they were using an innovative way of preaching Christianity and thus causing social sedition. Three days later, they were released on bail.
The recent decision that there is no case against the three Christians puts an end to the entire matter.
Watani International
26 February 2016