Suez Criminal Court has sentenced the three Salafis, Antar Abdel-Nabi Sayed, 26; Magdy Farouq Maati, 33; and Walid Hussein Bayoumi, 28; to 15 years in prison for murdering the
Suez Criminal Court has sentenced the three Salafis, Antar Abdel-Nabi Sayed, 26; Magdy Farouq Maati, 33; and Walid Hussein Bayoumi, 28; to 15 years in prison for murdering the 26-year-old Ahmed Hussein Eid last summer in Suez.
The three young men had stabbed Eid in the thigh, cutting his leg from the right thigh down to the lower leg and injuring a main artery. Eid was moved to hospital but died a few days later.
According to Eid’s father, Ahmed was escorting his fiancé home on the evening of 25 June, and lingered at the local park. Three bearded men on motorcycle wearing short white jilbabs, the attire for which Salafis are famous, approached the two young people. The motorcycle stopped beside the young couple, and the riders began questioning Eid and his fiancé about the reason of their being in public together, and what sort of relationship they had. Eid replied that they were engaged to get married and that this was none of the three men’s business. This resulted in an argument which escalated into a fight, and that was when one of the men wounded Eid with a knife. The three men fled leaving him to bleed.
The courthouse saw a dense presence of Salafis, as well as the families of the victim and the accused. Also present were leaders of different political forces who announced their full support to the victim’s family.
The prosecution had demanded death sentences for the defendants for charges of premeditated murder. The committal order mentioned that they were part of the hardline Islamic group al-Amr bil-Maarouf wal-Nahy an al-Munkar (Imposing Virtue and Rebuffing Vice), and that they forcefully impose their religious views on others, robbing them of their freedom and assaulting them in the streets. The prosecution said that the defendants murdered the victim in cold blood and that they attack all who do not bow to their extremist religious thought.
The defendants’ lawyers demanded that they should be acquitted, arguing that upholding virtue and rebuffing vice was a duty for all Muslims.
Watani International
26 September 2012