'We were all shaken'

A journalist is facing trial by a State Security Court for publishing stories and photos offensive to public morality and harmful to national unity
Press Syndicate Chairman Nafie, standing at Pope Shenouda III's side at the Coptic Cathedral, to express the Syndicate's shared sense of outrage
photo: Salah Ibrahim
By publishing a story and pictures about the sexual activities of a defrocked monk, Mamdouh Mahran, chief editor of the independent weekly newspaper Al-Nabaa, triggered a wave of condemnation and outrage. His action drew protests from thousands of Copts and condemnation from the Supreme Press Council, the Press Syndicate, various political parties, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the Grand Mufti of the Republic. The Supreme Press Council has initiated legal action with the Administrative Court to revoke the newspaper's licence.
Mahran told Al-Ahram Weekly that he has no regrets. After questioning by state security prosecutors, he was released on LE10,000 bail. He is now facing trial before a State Security Court on four charges that carry a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment. He is accused of disseminating disinformation bound to undermine public order, inciting hatred and contempt of a certain community (Copts), the possession and distribution of printed material and pictures offensive to public morality and publishing material with the intention of influencing the judiciary. The trial will open on Sunday.
Mahran denied the charges and said his intention was to protect the reputation of the Coptic Church and warn Christian women against falling into the traps of swindlers hiding beneath the cloak of religion.
The swindler in question is Adel Saadalla Gabriel, who assumed the clerical name Barsoum El- Muharraqi. The Church says he was defrocked and excommunicated for deviant behaviour five years ago. In last Sunday's edition, which was promptly confiscated, Al-Nabaa published three pages of lurid text and explicit pictures allegedly taken from surreptitiously filmed videos which the former monk then used to blackmail his victims. Mahran failed to mention that the monk had been defrocked and claimed that El- Muharraqi's activities occurred inside the Deir Al- Muharraq monastery near the southern city of Assiut, a claim hotly denied by the Coptic Church. The monastery, built in the 4th century, is revered by Copts who believe that the Holy Family stayed on the same spot for six months during the flight to Egypt.
Asked how he obtained the pictures, Mahran said that a videotape was selling in Assiut for LE100. The former monk and his brother have been arrested and brought to Cairo for questioning.
Al-Nabaa's sister publication, the daily Akher Khabar, printed a similar story about the ex-monk on Monday and was also promptly confiscated. Akher Khabar's editions on Tuesday and Wednesday failed to hit the newsstands.
The monastery's deputy head, Father Bakhomious, said that the pictures printed by the newspaper were not those of the ex-monk. "The man we are talking about is slim and very short," he said. "The person in the picture is much bigger than the man in question."
Mahran's action triggered the anger of Copts. Thousands demonstrated on Sunday night inside and outside the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya, hurling stones at shops in the vicinity and clashing with police. The protests continued on Monday and Tuesday inside the church, with the protesters barred by police from coming out. A heavy police presence outside the Cathedral was visible until yesterday.
On Tuesday, Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of the Press Syndicate, accompanied by members of the Syndicate's council, visited Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and the protesters, at the Abbasiya Cathedral.
Nafie told the gathering: "We were all shaken greatly by what was published in Al-Nabaa. Your anger is not yours alone, but it is the anger of all Egyptians, be they Copt or Muslim."
Nafie said that Mahran, whose membership of the Press Syndicate has been frozen, faces additional disciplinary action and may lose his Syndicate membership altogether. The Syndicate, Nafie added, has repeatedly warned against the dangers of a tabloid press and its endless diet of sex, crime and violence.
Pope Shenouda, seeking to pacify the angry crowd, said the Syndicate was doing all it could to contain the crisis but has no legal authority to suspend the publication of Al-Nabaa.
He also justified the presence of police forces outside the Cathedral by saying: "The role of police is to protect citizens and control any action that may undermine public order. The outcome of any friction between citizens can be dangerous."
Bishop Beymen told the Weekly that the "Copts' reaction was spontaneous because what happened is beyond comprehension."
Condemnation of Mahran's action came from leading Muslim figures. Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al- Azhar, said that Al-Azhar opposes with all its force the publication of material that questions the integrity of others. "What was published by Al-Nabaa incites strife and defames not only Copts, but the whole society," he said.
Mustafa Mashhour, supreme guide of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, told Pope Shenouda in a cable: "We were shocked by what was published. By any standard, it goes against the values, ethics and traditions of the Egyptian people."
By Shaden Shehab and Nadia Abou El-Magd
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