CAIRO: Crowds of Salafist Muslims demonstrated outside the State Council in Cairo on Tuesday, demanding the release of Camilia Shehata. Shehata is the wife of a Coptic Christian Priest and disappeared mysteriously last summer, then was found at a friend's home a few days later. The Coptic Church accused a group of Muslims of kidnapping her and forcing her to convert to Islam, and the Salafis say Camilia converted of her own free will and is now being imprisoned by the Coptic church. The crowds were holding signs calling for Camilia's release. They were also spreading fliers stating the injustice that she has faced since she converted to Islam. The fliers had the signature of the coalition of protecting Islam's new entrants. This comes in a time when sectarian tensions are rising in Egypt. The rising religious tension shows clearly the inefficiency of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak in dealing with religious cases during his era, including irritation of sectarian issues by policies lacking transparency. The march organized by Salafis was not the first of its kind, and Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has announced that the case of Camilia is under investigation. The crowds started their protest in the early hours of the morning and persisted untill noon, bringing traffic nearly to a standstill outside the State Council. This comes days after Egypt's issuance of a law that criminalizes protests that hamper the economic and production cycle and those held during working hours. The flier distributed by the demonstrators states that Camilia was deprived of her right to convert to Islam and her son was taken away from her after her decision. However, a video previously posted on YouTube shows Camilia asserting she is still Christian and never converted to Islam. BM
