CAIRO: Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, filed a memorandum to the Egyptian prosecutor-general on Sunday, asking for the immediate release of Coptic schoolteacher Demyana Emad and other Copts who are currently imprisoned as a result of a rash of case with sectarian elements. "Copts are fed up with being prosecuted on charges of evangelism and contempt of Islamic religion, especially since there is no article in the penal code that criminalises preaching," Gabriel said. Demyana Emad, a 23-year old social studies teacher, was accused of contempt of Islam by her students and their parents. The prosecution has ordered her detention for four days pending investigation, and a court renewed her arrest for 15 more days. Gabrial said that this counts as the 18th incident of arresting Christian teachers on charges of defaming the religion of Islam. "We are in the process of documenting all violations and persecution of Coptic-Christians to announce these systematic practices," the Coptic lawyer said, referring to an international conference that will be held on June 15 in Cairo that aims at the internationalisation of the Coptic issue. He added that it is now impossible for Copts to exercise their rights under the Muslim Brotherhood's government. BN
