Editor in Chief
Youssef Sidhom
Watani
عربى English French
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Watani
ع Fr

Pope Tawadros: Rule of law must prevail

30 May, 2016 - (5:41 PM)
0 0

Nader Shukry

Pope Tawadros: Rule of law must prevail
90
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

 

The recent crime against Copts in the village of al-Karm—also pronounced al-Karam––in Minya, some 250km south of Cairo, has left Egyptians—especially Copts—aghast with shock and pain. On a rumour that a Coptic man was having an affair with a Muslim woman, the 68-year-old Coptic woman Suad Thabet was dragged from her home into the street, stripped naked and beaten up by three Muslim men while a Muslim mob looked on. The attack also left six Coptic homes—homes in rural Egypt are large and house extended families—burnt, as well as a Copt-owned plastics warehouse. Two Coptic men, Danial Ayad and his son Ayad were injured. Danial is the husband of Thabet; they are the parents of Ashraf Ayad who was rumoured to be in liaison with the Muslim woman. Minya prosecution is questioning the 19 suspects caught by the police; till Watani International went to press, two more suspects had not yet been caught, but investigations were ongoing.

 

Collective punishment

The story goes back to 19 May when, in the wake of a rumour of an affair between the Copt Ashraf Danial Ayad and the Muslim woman Nagwa Ragab, both in their early 30s, Ayad received threats to him and his family. The threats were directly reported to the police. Islam bans any relation or marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, even though it allows such liaisons in case of Muslim men and non-Muslim women. Ayad hurriedly fled the village with his wife and four daughters. His old parents, however, remained.

According to a statement by Anba Makarius, Bishop of Minya and Abu-Qurqas: “The following day a group of some 300 men set off at 8.00pm, armed with various weapons, and broke into seven Copt-owned homes and property. They looted their belongings then set a number of them on fire. The losses have been so far estimated at EGP350,000.

“The assaulters stripped an elderly Christian woman of her clothes, cheering and defaming her in front of a large crowd in the street. Security arrived at 10pm….” 

Anba Makarius went on to say: “We are confident that such behaviour cannot be condoned by any honourable citizen. We trust that the State apparatuses will not just look on. We thank in advance the security apparatus, and are confident they will spare no effort to catch all involved [in the attack] and hold them accountable.”

Ms Thabet testified that the Muslim mob which assaulted her was led by Nazeer Ishaq Ahmad, the husband of the Muslim woman; his father Ishaq Ahmad; and his brother Abdel-Moniem Ishaq Ahmad.

The police caught five suspects on the first day, among them Nazeer Ishaq Ahmad. The two other Ahmads were caught a few days later, together with 12 other suspects.

 

Coptic anger

The incident caused widespread anger among the Copts who demanded that Minya governor and security chief be taken to account. The Egypt Council of Churches and Coptic organisations inside and outside Egypt condemned the incident in strong language, and demanded that justice should be served. Many Copts as well as activists demanded the dismissal of Minya governor and security chief for their responsibility in what was termed ‘security failure to protect the Copts, to the point of allowing the appallingly disgraceful assault of an old woman, stripping and beating her up while no official lifted a finger to rescue her’. Ms Thabet was in fact finally rescued by a Muslim neighbour who took her into his home.

Minya MP Magdy Melek told Watani that he had called Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar to complain against the incident and to demand an end to the rampant practice of Coptic communities being collectively punished for a violation, or the mere rumour of a violation, committed by a Coptic individual. Mr Melek said the Interior Minister agreed that the practice was totally unacceptable and should never be tolerated by the police. He promised that the recent Minya incident would be thoroughly investigated, and that justice would be served.

A young Coptic reporter, Remon Nagy, created a hashtag under the title ‘Egypt has been stripped naked’. In a few hours it gathered more than 3000 followers.

 

President Sisi: Justice should be served

On 26 May, the Presidency of Egypt issued a statement concerning al-Karm attack. It declared that “the Presidency was following closely the measures taken with respect to the sad events”. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the statement said, had instructed all State apparatuses concerned to take the necessary steps to preserve public order, protect people and property within the rule of law, hold accountable those who ignited these clashes and refer them to the competent judicial authorities.

According to the statement, the President instructed the governor of Minya, in coordination with the Armed Forces, to repair and restore the properties damaged in the clashes within one month of the date of the statement, at the expense of the State.

Monday 30 May the military started repairing the burned homes in al-Karm. They began with the Ayad home which is formed of three floors occupied by the [extended] family, as well as a ground floor used for commercial activity.

While opening a new State-financed housing project in Muqattam, Cairo, that same Monday, President Sisi again referred to al-Karm incident, saying that the law must be applied and the culprits brought to justice no matter who or how many they were. He apologised to Ms Thabet, asking her kindly to “not despair”.

Pope Tawadros II who is on a visit to Austria for the double aim of pastoral and medical purposes, called Thabet. In a voice shaken with emotion, he offered her words of support and comfort, and assured her that Anba Makarius was in charge of the entire matter and would respond to her and her husband’s needs.

 

“We want our dignity”

Sources close to the Ayads, including Ms Thabet’s lawyer Ihab Ramzy, have been complaining of pressure applied on the family by local politicians and civil society groups to ‘reconcile’ with the attackers, meaning that Ms Thabet should then withdraw the official complaint she filed with the police. The Ayads have adamantly refused to do so.

Mr Ramzy expressed his wariness that the police would deliberately not furnish the prosecution with the evidence to sufficiently incriminate Ms Thabet’s attackers. He talked of public figures and officials who cast doubts in the media on the severity of the stripping and beating incident, or on whether it occurred in the first place.

The State-sponsored Islamic institution of al-Azhar, the Cairo-based topmost Islamic authority in the world, sent a 40-man delegation to Minya to contain the situation, while the Ministry of Religious Endowments said that more than 20 preachers would be sent to Minya to organise dialogue between the conflicting sides.

Minya Governor Tarek Hassan Nasr persuaded a reluctant Mr Ayad to accompany him to an event sponsored by Beit al-A’ila (Family Home), an entity formed by al-Azhar and the Coptic Church, in an effort to bring about social peace. The governor gave Mr Ayad a closed envelope which contained EGP5,000 as [meagre] compensation for his losses. Mr Ayad returned the envelope on the spot saying: “What we want is our dignity. The money of the whole world will do us no good.”

Monday 30 May MP John Talaat said that, according to Minister of Legal Affairs Magdy al-Agati, a number of Abu-Qurqas security men have been detained for ignoring the complaints of threats, filed by the Copts on 19 May. Judge Agati revealed nothing about the number of those detained or their ranks.

 

Justice first

The Copts and their Church are adamant that, this time, they will not give in to any efforts at ‘fostering social peace’ through the traditional conciliatory efforts termed “Reconciliation sessions”. These arbitration sessions presided over by local community elders were common in rural Egypt to settle disputes and bring about swift justice and social peace. When the parties to a dispute were Muslim versus Copt, however, these sessions have been notorious for pressuring Copts, to the point of outright threats, into relinquishing their rights. They have also been famous for passing excessively harsh sentences on the Copts, more often than not fining them huge sums, confiscating property belonging to them, or forcing them to leave their villages or hometowns. [https://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/sectarian/sweeping-the-law-aside-2/16545/]

Pope Tawadros has called for peace to reign between the Copts and Muslims of al-Karm, but explicitly said that justice should come first. 

 

Watani International

1 June 2016

 

 

 

44

45

46

 

47

 

 

48

49

 

Comments

comments

Tags: Anba MakariusCoptic woman stripped and beaten in MinyaEgypt Minya attack against CoptsPope Tawadros II

Related Posts

Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality
Coptic Affairs

Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality

June 25, 2022
Killer of Sohag Copt referred to criminal court
Crime

Killer of Sohag Copt referred to criminal court

June 21, 2022
Claim against lawyer of killer of Alexandria Coptic priest
Crime

Claim against lawyer of killer of Alexandria Coptic priest

June 17, 2022
Court sentences to death killer of Alexandria Coptic priest
Coptic Affairs

Court sentences to death killer of Alexandria Coptic priest

June 12, 2022
Prosecution charges killer of Sohag Copt with intentional murder
Crime

Prosecution charges killer of Sohag Copt with intentional murder

June 10, 2022
Copt from Akhmim hacked to death by Muslim extremist
Crime

Copt from Akhmim hacked to death by Muslim extremist

June 8, 2022

Editorial

International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily

More

MOST READ

For 28 years in Port Said: Holy Virgin icon still drips miraculous oil
Coptic Affairs

For 28 years in Port Said: Holy Virgin icon still drips miraculous oil

February 26, 2018
0

This February 2018 marks the 28th year in succession since miraculous oil started dripping from a large modern paper icon...

Read more
Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections

Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections

July 4, 2022
Old houses at new prices?

Old houses at new prices?

February 1, 2017
Youssef Sidhom

International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily

July 1, 2022
Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality

Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality

June 25, 2022

Features

Conserving an age-old craft
Art

Fawakhir village: Conserving age-old craft of pottery

July 6, 2022
0

A news item circulated the first week of July 2022 ran to the effect that Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal handed...

Read more
Watani started as an Egyptian weekly Sunday newspaper published in Cairo. The word Watani is Arabic for “My Homeland”. The paper was founded in 1958 by the prominent Copt Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995), who strove for the establishment of a civil, democratic society in Egypt, where all Egyptians would enjoy full citizenship rights regardless of their religious denomination. To this day when Watani is published as a weekly paper and an online news site, the objective remains the same. Those in charge of Watani view this role as a patriotic all-Egyptian vocation. Special attention is given to shedding light on Coptic culture and tradition as authentically Egyptian, this being a topic largely disregarded or little-understood by Egypt’s media. Watani is deeply dedicated to offer its readers high quality, extensive, objective, credible and well-researched media coverage, with special focus on Coptic issues, culture, heritage, and contribution to Egyptian society.
-----------------------------------------------------------

27 Abdel Khalek Tharwat st, Downtown, Abdeen,Cairo

00202-23927201

00202-23935946

 [email protected]

      

categories

  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Egypt – Arab Spring
  • Coptic Affairs
  • Features
  • Watani Special Features

Recent Posts

  • Fawakhir village: Conserving age-old craft of pottery
  • Egyptian athletes win total 49 medals in Oran’s Mediterranean Games 2022
  • Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections
  • International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily
  • Pope Tawadros on 30 June 2013 Revolution: Rescuing Egypt from
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Egypt – Arab Spring
  • Coptic Affairs
  • Features
  • Watani Special Features

Powered BY 3A Digital.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum

Powered BY 3A Digital.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....