The disappointing verdict by the High Administrative Court in Cairo today has dealt a severe blow to Freedom of Religion to Muslims who would like to come out of Islam and convert to Christianity in a country who persistently and relentlessly claims to be secular and apply “civil Laws”. The judge Hamdi Yaseen rejected Maher Ahmed Al-Mo’tasem Bellah Al-Gohari application to change his religious affiliation from Muslim to Christian on his ID card; the verdict was based on the Islamic Sharia which prohibits conversion of Muslims to any other religion and “disruption to Public order”. The Egyptian constitution carries the two paradoxical statements, article 2 stipulates that Islamic Shari’a, which prohibits conversions to any other religion is the main source of legislation while article 46 of the constitution states that the State guarantees the “Freedom of Religion” In today’s court case, again, the converts to Christianity in Egypt have fallen victims to the Egyptian government appeasement to Islamist radicals to say the least.
The Egyptian government agents, the court in today’s case, are considered in the eyes of the international law as “Agents of Persecution” which can open the door open to an era of international condemnation of the Egyptian government position regarding Freedom of Religion. Al-Gohari and his daughter Dina 12, live in hiding in continuous fear since radical Islamists such as Sheik Youssef El-Badri and Dr Hamid Sardiq incited Radical Muslim mobs to kill Al-Gohari for his apostasy. (c) United Copts
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