CAIRO: The two Egyptian members of the Canada-based Middle East Christian Association (Meca) who were imprisoned for three months on allegations of defaming Islam will walk free today. Adel Fawzy Faltas Hanna, the organization's Egypt director, and Peter Ezzat were held for 90 days - the maximum period under Egyptian law - to allow authorities to investigate the allegations. A court in Abbasiya yesterday ruled that the men could not be held any longer without charges. The men were taken into custody Aug. 8 after police raided their Cairo homes confiscating computers, CDs and books, which prosecutors claimed contained information offensive to Islam. They have since failed to produce any evidence to substantiate these accusations. Officially investigations are ongoing, but one of the men's defence lawyers Peter El-Naggar told Daily News Egypt that the case is all but over, and that the authorities are merely trying to save face. "They will not make a case. The government know they are not right, but they have taken a step [by holding the men for 90 days], and they cannot go back on that. Meca's director in Toronto Nader Fawzy expressed his delight over the men's release. "We are too happy right now, he told Daily News Egypt. "We said from the beginning they didn't do anything wrong, and I just hope this will be the end of it. He added that Hanna and Ezzat will immediately resume their work with Meca, which has yet to be registered as an NGO in Egypt. "From tomorrow we will continue to register our organization in Egypt, we will continue our work, and we will not stop working to get equality and freedom for Christians in Egypt. Hafez Abu Saeda, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), told Daily News Egypt that the imprisonment of Hanna and Ezzat constituted a "serious violation of human rights. He said that the charge of "harming religion is being used to control freedom of thought and freedom of speech in Egypt. "All religions must be respected by the people and the government, but at the end of the day you have to be able to speak your mind. We have to seriously investigate an issue before saying that it is harming religion, he said. Fawzy said that Meca, along with other Coptic Rights Groups, has registered a complaint with the International Council of Human Rights in Switzerland, and plans to do the same with the Human Rights Council in New York.
