Egypt: Muslims assault Christians, Muslims acquitted, Christians sentenced to life in prison

Sharia justice in Arab Spring Egypt. Islamo-Christian violence in Minya: life imprisonment for 12 Copts, eight Muslims acquitted," from Asia News, May 22 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Cairo (AsiaNews/Agencies) - An Egyptian court has sentenced 12 Coptic Christians to life imprisonment and acquitted eight Muslims, in a trial heavily criticized by human rights activists and legal experts. The ruling came yesterday, at the end of a trial called to shed light on the sectarian violence last year in the province of Minya, in the southern part of the country, about 220 km from Cairo. Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher and expert on Egyptian law, emphasizes that "the acquittal of the eight Muslim defendants" shows that "the investigations started from the beginning by the attorney general are unfair and wrong" because there was "clear evidence of guilt against them, for having set fire to Christian properties."
The accused Christians were sentenced for inciting public disorder, possession of illegal weapons and the murder of two Muslims. The incident happened in April 2011 and has helped to exacerbate a situation of deep inter-religious tension in the area of Upper Egypt, which then continued in the following weeks (see AsiaNews 06/27/2011 Upper Egypt, violence against Christians on the rise. Eight houses burned).

The violence erupted when a Muslim minibus driver, angered by the presence of a speed bump outside a house owned by a wealthy Christian, got into a fight with the house's security guards. Upon returning to his home village, the Muslim driver assembled a group of people to get revenge for the alleged wrong and the violence suffered.

The retaliation squad was joined by groups of Islamic extremists, who surrounded the homes of Coptic Christians, intending to launch an attack. In fear of being overwhelmed, the inhabitants opened fire from the roofs of buildings, killing two people in the crowd and wounding two others. In the days following, Muslim groups torched dozens of Christian houses and shops to avenge the dead.

The eight Muslims on trial were accused of illegal possession of weapons and having burned the Christians' buildings. However, the court ruled for aquittal of the charges.

The judgment delivered by the judges of the State Security Court is not appealable and the 12 Christians risk spending the rest of their lives in prison. Only the military council could - in what is a very remote hypothesis, moreover - request a retrial.

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9 Comments

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Midnightwatcher.wordpress.com | May 22, 2012 12:59 PM | Reply

What else can we expect from a court system largely influenced by a book that considers Christians “infidels who blaspheme” and the “firewood of hell”, yet calls Muslims “the best of peoples evolved for mankind”?

http://midnightwatcher.wordpress.com

boakai ngombu | May 22, 2012 1:59 PM | Reply

"... the presence of a speed bump ..."

make straight the highways, let them all be level, so that SHARIA may come in (contrived as it may be) ... level everything in its path ... the Allah god will be so pleased

exsgtbrown | May 22, 2012 6:24 PM | Reply

"The violence erupted when a Muslim minibus driver, angered by the presence of a speed bump outside a house owned by a wealthy Christian, got into a fight with the house's security guards. Upon returning to his home village, the Muslim driver assembled a group of people to get revenge for the alleged wrong and the violence suffered."

as usual...the violence was initiated by the Muslim...

Chatillon | May 22, 2012 7:26 PM | Reply

This is what gets reported as "inter-community tension."

Ronald W. Carnine | May 23, 2012 3:36 AM | Reply

Shameful, but more shameful is the silence of most Western media sources. Injustice in the courts, brutality against one's neighbors, and a life time in jail. I wonder how long it will be before these Copt's get shot for trying to escape. There is nothing like an impartial judge and jury, it was all fixed before it ever went to trial. How shameful that this is common treatment of non-Muslims. Islam claims to be God's final revelation to all mankind, but all we see is "killing, stealing and destroying. That is not the work of a "religion of peace" but it is the work of the devil. Those are not my words, they are the words of Jesus Christ (John10:10)

Amina | May 23, 2012 4:16 AM | Reply

Do you know of many pastors who dare to confront Islam and expose its true nature. Well, here's one who is not afraid to rise up and tell it as it is. Well done Colin Dye!
http://www.colindye.com/2012/03/30/khilafa-or-kingdom/

have_mercy replied to comment from Ronald W. Carnine | May 23, 2012 4:25 AM | Reply

Ron:

They have been convecting Copts for the murder of their own relatives by Muslim thugs for some time. Copts can be killed with impunity and their relatives thrown in prison for good measure. Even if a Copt has the means to defend oneself and family from a flash Muslim mob, it is pointless; the courts will finish the job. However, the US sate department and the leftist courts refuse to grant asylum the Coptic victims asylum, and have returned Copts to face the unjust legal system.

have_mercy | May 23, 2012 4:51 AM | Reply

Please do not take this as an isolated incident. The Egyptian legal system has been routinely throwing innocent Christians in prisons, letting Muslim murders of Christians go free, stealing their property, their children (if any family member converts to Islam or even if a deceased parent was falsely claimed to have uttered the Islamic confessions before death), returning runaway Christian girls that were held into sexual slavery to their Muslim slavers who claim to be their legal husbands, and the list of outrages goes on and on. To be a Christian in Egypt is to be an enemy of the state, without rights, liable for any punishment, and open to violation by all and sundry.

Remember, Egypt does not fully impose Sharia. Once it does, it is game over!

gravenimage | May 24, 2012 1:11 PM | Reply

Egypt: Muslims assault Christians, Muslims acquitted, Christians sentenced to life in prison
....................................

*This* is Shari'ah in action—and this is what they want to impose on all of us. And as Have Mercy noted, Egypt is not even a full Shari'ah state yet.

This whole story is about Christians attempting to defend themselves—can't have that in an Islamic state.

Quite often, posters here will sneer at dhimmis who do not fight back against Muslim violence, and suggest that such savagery wouldn't occur if they would just "man up" and arm themselves.

I've always noted what would happen in such a case. And this just proves it—first the Muslims go on a murderous rampage, then the Shari'ah courts "finish the job".

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