WATANI International
20 May 2011
Friday afternoon saw the Coptic sit-in at Maspero called off.
Father Matthias Nasr announced to the protestors that the sit-in would be called off as part of a deal with the Military Council. According to the deal, five of the eight Copts detained on Thursday in the Ain Shams riots would be released right away, while the release of the other three would be negotiated once the sit-in ends. The five young men released are students who would be missing end-of-year examinations if still held.
The sit-in protest had begun on 8 May in the wake of the Salafi Muslim attack against the Copts in the
The protestors presented their demands, which included the release of the Coptic detainees who were being kept ‘pending investigation’, the passage of a unified law for places of worship and one for banning discrimination, and the opening of closed churches. Following a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, the Cabinet promised to take a number of concrete measures towards achieving these demands. The protestors, however, insisted they would not budge till they see real change in that direction.
Only one day earlier, on Thursday 19 May, the government decided to open three churches that had been closed for extended periods: that of the Holy Virgin and Anba Abra’am in Ain Shams,
Also in response to the protestors’ demands, the governor Minya Samir Sallam signed the decision to license the building of Maghagha bishopric church which had been awaiting governorial approval for some three years now. The bishopric officials went to the governorate offices on Thursday morning to receive the licence, only to find that it was being suspended by the legal affairs director Sayed Abdel-Hamid on grounds that the new church was planned on agricultural land, which violates the law. Since the planned site lies in the midst of a large cluster of buildings, the church officials called Governor Sallam at 10:00am on Thursday and informed him of the situation. But no official action was taken.
The Maspero protestors had decided to call off their 16-day sit-in on Thursday, but the news from Ain Shams and Maghagha led them to extend it. Friday, however, the situation changed in the wake of the deal with the military.
The protestors themselves were in no agreement as to call off or extend the sit-in, and several disputes erupted among them, some of which turned violent. But finally, most of them left; the only ones staying on were those who had specific complaints such as children who had disappeared or family members who were detained. Three priests stayed on in order to offer protection to the few who remained in Maspero.