Amidst heavy Islamist attendance, the Luxor Court this morning adjourned the case of the Coptic teacher Dimyana Ebeid Abdel-Nour who was charged with contempt of Islam and preaching Christianity, till 11 June to announce the verdict
Amidst heavy Islamist attendance, the Luxor Court this morning adjourned the case of the Coptic teacher Dimyana Ebeid Abdel-Nour who was charged with contempt of Islam and preaching Christianity, till 11 June to announce the verdict.
The court overruled the defence lawyers’ demand to summon three witnesses.
Abdel-Nour, a primary school social studies teacher in a Luxor village has been charged with contempt of Islam. Abdel-Nour was accused of having made a hand gesture to signify she does not respect the Prophet Mohamed, an act denied by a majority of the pupils in her class. She was also charged with preaching Christianity since she is said to have told her pupils that the late Pope Shenouda III was a better man than the Prophet of Islam. Again, this claim has been denied by a majority of her pupils.
The lawyer Tharwat Bekhit who represents Abdel-Nour, told Watani that, in case Abdel Nour is convicted she will contest the ruling. This should naturally follow the fact that the court refused to summon the defence witnesses, a move that may imply the court was confident of her innocence and did not need more witnesses to prove it, or that may warrant a retrial.
Watani International
4 June 2013