Egypt: children on trial for insulting Islam; family sentenced for conversion to Christianity
February 08, 2013
Two Egyptian Christian children are on trial for insulting Islam. According to different versions of the allegations, they tore pages out of the Qur’an or urinated on them.
“They are just small children, and they don't really understand what all the fuss is about – they can't even tell the difference between the Qur’an, the Bible or any other holy book,” said Karam Gabriel, their attorney.
The trial is taking place in Beni Suef, a city of 230,000, where a mother and her seven children were sentenced to 15 years in prison last month for converting back to Christianity from Islam.
“We were sure, especially after the revolution, that our court will respect the right of every human being to choose his or her religion, but apparently the court is relying on the Islamic sharia, and therefore Nadia was sentenced to 15 years in prison,” said Yusuf Zaki, head of the Coptic Alliance.
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