Kariman Saber, the mother of the 25-year-old Albeir Saber Ayad who is currently detained for two weeks pending investigations for charges of deriding religion [Islam], has called for
Kariman Saber, the mother of the 25-year-old Albeir Saber Ayad who is currently detained for two weeks pending investigations for charges of deriding religion [Islam], has called for the aid of rights activists to attain justice for her son.
Ayad was last Thursday arrested by the police for allegedly sharing online the link of the film The Innocence of Muslims, which disdains the Prophet Mohamed.
Ms Saber said that she had called the police to protect her and her son from a crowd of extremists who were threatening them at home but, she says, the police came and, instead of catching any of the assailants, caught her son and confiscated his personal computer.
On Friday morning, Ms Saber said, a young man who looked to be some 17 years old, knocked at her door and said she should leave immediately; otherwise she would be attacked and her home burned after Friday noon prayers. “I was obliged to leave my home,” she said, “and am now staying with friends.” She says she has now received further threats that neither she nor her son may go back home; they must relocate in some other neighbourhood or else risk their life and their home if they insist on going back.
In a press conference held by the Civilian Christians at the premises of the Egyptian Front political party, Ms Saber said her son had been beaten up and injured in the police station. “The officer told the other detainees that Albeir was an atheist who derided Islam; the detainees beat him and one of them injured him in the neck with a shaving razor that almost killed him.
The lawyer Ahmed Ezzat who is among Ayad’s defence team, said that there were several irregularities in the arrest of Ayad and the investigation process. Ayad was arrested, Ezzat said, without a warrant form the prosecution. He was asked about his religious beliefs during the investigation, which contradicts his personal freedom and his right to freedom of belief, according to Ezzat.
Several of the activists attending the press conference, among them Joseph Nassim the coordinator-general of Civilian Christians, insisted that the authorities in Egypt were systematically targeting the unarmed, unprotected Copts. Nassim demanded a halt to the targeting of Copts and the discrimination against them.
Watani International
17 September 2012