This action was prompted by an Egyptian court in the
Upper Egyptian town of Beba ordering the detention of the parents and cousin of
a Coptic man, Ebram Andrawes, who allegedly disappeared with a 22-year-old
Muslim girl, Rana El Shazly, at the end of February after she converted to
Christianity, got married and fled to Turkey.
The El Shazly family, from El-Wasta town, 90 kilometers
south of Cairo, first accused the Church in Wasta of subjecting Rana to
"Black Magic" and converting her to Christianity (AINA 3-22-2013),
then they organized three demonstrations with hundreds of Muslims against the
local St. George's church and its priest, hurling stones at Coptic homes and
ordering Coptic businesses to close until the Muslim girl returned.
A hearing in the Egyptian Shura Council, asked Interpol
to bring Rana back, after accusing her of theft. Failing this, El Shazly
brought charges against Ebram's family. Rana recently sent the third letter to
her family in which she denies that she eloped with a young Copt. She affirmed
that she is still a Muslim and is married to a Muslim man.
According to the Coptic Dutch Association's memo, Ebram's
parents, Zaki Andrawes and his severely ill wife Souad Akhnoukh, as well as his
nephew, Peter, were imprisoned for 15 more days following the initial 4 days,
on fabricated charges that they are members of the American missionary
Organization Joyce Meyer and are distributing its magazine, stressing that the
charges against them were fabricated in order to put pressure on them to return
Rana.
The Coptic Dutch Association pointed out that it has CD
of the condition of the mother of the young man, currently jailed in Minya and
is seriously ill and was not allowed to be transferred to a hospital as a
punishment to her and her family. The CD was submitted to the European
Parliament and the European Union.
"We requested the European Parliament to issue a
statement of condemnation against what happened to the Copts in El-Wasta and
the unjust imprisonment of the Coptic family," said Bahaa Ramzy, president
of Coptic Dutch Association. "We requested the immediate release of three
Copts, to establish a fact-finding committee affiliated to human rights
organizations of the EU because of the fabricated charges against Copts, and
linking Egypt's economic aid to the human rights of the Copts."
"It is unacceptable what the Copts are going through
in Egypt, and we protest that families are held captive by the
authorities." said Ramzy, "What have the parents to do with this? Why
take them as captives? This is collective punishment for the whole
family."
By Mary Abdelmassih
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AINA: Egyptian Christian Rights Groups Request EU
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