Minya Bishopric has issued a statement in which it listed and assessed the losses of the Copts of the Minya village of Beni-Ahmed, who were attacked Islamists last week. The attack
Minya Bishopric has issued a statement in which it listed and assessed the losses of the Copts of the Minya village of Beni-Ahmed, who were attacked Islamists last week. The attack, which took place on Saturday 3 August and again on the following Monday, afflicted 37 Coptic families, and left in its wake seven houses, 24 shops, and nine vehicles—all Coptic-owned—ruined and burnt.
Some Eight Copts and 17 Muslims have been caught—but others are still wanted by the police—which brought on an outcry from the Copts against the policy of “balancing accounts” used by the prosecution, in which Copts are prosecuted simply so that Muslims alone would not be prosecuted. The lawyer Ibrahim Edward said that the Copts were attacked inside their homes by armed men who noisily declared their intention of killing the Copts and ruining their livelihoods. Many Copts were injured in the process, and lost homes, shops and vehicles, Edward said. “So now they are the culprits?!”
The Copts have so far rejected all attempts at ‘conciliation’ with the offenders; conciliation, a traditional move applied by local communities to bring about peace following violent incidents, implicitly means that the victims give up all legal rights.
Anba Macarius, Bishop-General of Minya, said that a calm of sorts now reigns in Beni-Ahmed. As for the losses incurred, the bishopric listed the houses and businesses plundered and burned, as well as the vehicles. They included a supermarket, car repair workshop, hairdresser, and clothes press; also shops that sold various goods: food, shoes, garments, fabrics, mobile phones, car tyres and batteries, electric utilities, motorbikes, and car paint and spare parts. Two buses, three trucks and three tractors and one trailer, were torched. The losses have been estimated to amount to close to EGP5 million.
Minya Bishopric opened a bank account for donations to help the victims restart their livelihoods. The bank account number is in the name of Anba Arsanius, Bishop of Minya and Abu-Qurqas, number: 01010101850 at al-Ahli Bank, Minya branch.
Watani International
10 August 2013