The student, Jamāl ‘Abduh, in investigations by the prosecution that ordered him under four-day custody, denied that the image, which depicted a bearded pig wearing a white turban without any captions and turned out to have been published by a French magazine last year, was his own, adding he found it on his Facebook page.
The session, held within efforts to contain the crisis, ended with a decision by the local and security leaders that the student’s father, a tailor, would leave the village along with his family. [‘Abduh Hasānyn and Ahmad al-Asyūtī, Al-Wafd, Jan. 2, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic
Life came back to normal in the villages of al-‘Adar, Sallām and Manqabād in Asyut after days of violence and clashes between Muslims and Copts.
Maj. General Ya’qūb Hassan, Secretary-General of the Upper Egyptian governorate, paid a visit to the Manqabād Secondary School, in which the accused young Copt is a student, and appealed to the school students to encourage their absent Coptic colleagues to return without any fears.
“We’re all one and the same fabric in one nation. The student has committed a mistake and was punished by the departure of his family from all of Asyut,” said Hassan, appealing to teachers to always speak about religious tolerance to defuse any possible crisis between Muslims and Christians from the start. [Mamdūh Thābit and Sahar al-Himdānī, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 7] Read original text in Arabic
A judge in the Asyut Court of Misdemeanor ordered the renewal of investigative custody of Jamāl ‘Abduh for 15 days on charges of publishing cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad on his social networking media Facebook page.
Chief Prosecutor of Asyut Muhammad Sayīd, accused ‘Abduh of disdaining religions and inciting fitnah tā’fīyah by printing the cartoon from his Facebook page and handing it out to his Muslim and Christian colleagues.
The student denied the charges. [Muhammad Munīr, Akhbār al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 18] Read original text in Arabic
Meanwhile, Public Prosecutor ‘Abd al-Majīd Mahmūd decided the removal of prisoner Michael Nabīl, a blogger and political activist, from al-Marj Prison to Turah Prison.
The decision was taken after a surprise visit to al-Marj Prison by al-Khānkah prosecutor along with lawyer and human rights activist Amīr Sālim, who reported to the prosecution on behalf of Nabīl’s brother that the imprisoned young Copt was subject to beatings and violence while he was visiting his brother in jail. [Author not mentioned, Al-Ahrām, Jan. 2, p. 20] Read original text in Arabic
The Imbābah fitnah case was adjourned to the February 5 session to heart the testimonies of Maj. General Hamdī Badīn, Commander of the Military Police Corps, and ‘Abīr Fakhrī, the wife of the prime defendant.
In a heated session at the Supreme State Security Court (Emergency), eighty-four defendants were facing charges of illegal assembly, premeditated murder, attempted murder, jeopardizing public order, sparking a fitnah tā’ifīyah, setting the Virgin Mary Church on fire and unlicensed possession of firearms and ammunition. [Samīrah ‘Alī ‘Ayyād, Al-Ahrām, Jan. 2, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic
[A report of the same content was mentioned in al-Jumhūrīyah, Jan. 2, p. 15 and al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 3] The articles have no link online
[Reviewer’s Note: Clashes had erupted in May 2011 between Muslims and Copts in the impoverished district of Imbābah upon rumors that Fakhrī, a Christian young woman who reportedly converted to Islam, was detained inside a church. The clashes left 16 persons killed and more than 240 others wounded.]
The Court of Urgent Matters in Alexandria on Sunday looked into the case of the bombing attacks that targeted the Two Saints Church to the February 5 session after the defense counsel demanded the inclusion of other parties to the case, Field Marshal Husayn Tantāwī in his capacity as Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that runs the country transitionally, Prime Minister Kamāl al-Janzūrī and Interior Minister Muhammad Ibrāhīm over the slow pace of the course of the investigations.
The bombings, which took place on the eve of December 31, 2010, had left 23 people killed and more than 90 others wounded. [Author not mentioned, Al-Ahrām, Jan. 2, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic
Egyptian churches celebrated the New Year on December 31, 2011 as priests prayed for the stability and peace of Egypt.
Dozens of activists and young people were outside the Two Saints Church chanting slogans of national unity while Coptic youths chanted slogans against Mustafá Muhammad Mustafá, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood group, after speaking about the need to implement the sharī’ah.
Other activists expelled Maj. General Khālid Ghorabah, Alexandria Security Director, as soon as he got off his vehicle while others hurled their shoes at him chanting “Down with the Military”. [Author not mentioned, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic
A large number of candidates running in the third round of the parliamentary elections paid visits to the church to congratulate it over the New Year while candidates of the Salafī al-Nūr Party refrained.
Bishop Bīshūy, Secretary of the Holy Synod, refused to meet any candidates, adding that the church is keeping its distance from politics. [Husām Sadaqah, Fārūq al-Dusūqī, Ghādah ‘Abd al-Hāfiz and Teresa Kamāl, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 9] Read original text in Arabic
The churches in the governorate of al-Qalyubia, namely those in Banhā and Shubrā al-Khaymah, witnessed a large number of visiting politicians and candidates in the parliamentary elections to offer congratulations for the Christians on New Year’s Eve. [Ahmad ‘Abd al-Karīm, Al-Akhbār, Jan. 2, p. 8] Read original text in Arabic
On the other hand, ‘Imād ‘Abd al-Ghafūr, the leader of al-Nūr Party, said that the Egyptian society would not accept a Copt as president of the republic, adding Article 2 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the official religion of the state is Islam, automatically requires that the president has to be Muslim.
“Al-Nūr Party will seek to have this point stated openly in the new constitution,” said ‘Abd al-Ghafūr.
He noted that the constitutions of many European countries like Greece, Spain and seven European Union (EU) members and even in Britain’s unwritten constitution, clearly indicate the religion, and sometimes the denomination, of the head of state. [Ahmad ‘Abd al-Hamīd, Al-Akhbār, Jan. 2, p. 9] Read original text in Arabic
Thousands of citizens celebrated the New Year’s Eve in the landmark central Cairo al-Tahrīr Square, sang songs of patriotic sentiments, and chanted slogans against the military’s continuity in power. [Karīmah Hassan, Sūzān ‘Ātif and Muhammad Ra’fat, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 2, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic
