CAIRO: Lawyer and head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Naguib Gobrael said Sunday that Copts may resort to boycotting the coming parliamentary elections in protest at their mistreatment. The press conference was held at the union's headquarters in Shoubra in the wake of an attack on a church in the southern city of Marinab, a few kilometers from Edfu, "to express the Coptic anger," Gobrael said. "Where is the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces? Where is [Prime Minister] Essam Sharaf's government? Where is the Ministry of Interior? Even political parties are neglecting our cause," he said. "If you think we are going to stay silent, you don't know us at all." Gobrael showed some amateur footage of the attacks on the church in Imbaba earlier in May, describing the attack as “genocide.” The Imbaba clashes, where 12 people were killed and 52 wounded, were sparked by rumors that Christians had abducted a woman, Abeer Fakhry, who had converted to Islam. The violence led to the burning of a church on May 7, for which 48 Muslims and Christians are being tried in a criminal court. Gobrael pointed the finger of blame on Salafis, Muslims who adhere to a hardline interpretation of Islam. "Their teachings are extreme. They call us infidels and burn our churches. They don't consider us as citizens, to them we are strangers to this land," he said. Denying allegations by Aswan's governor, Moustafa Al-Said, who claimed that the attacked building is not a church but a service center, Gobrael revealed official documents proving that the building partly burnt down on Friday was indeed Marinab's Mary Guirguis Church. Refaat Fikry, a priest officiating in Shoubra spoke at the press conference, explaining that both the problem and the solution are in the hands of the authorities. "The Egyptian legislation makes it impossible to build churches. Our schools and our universities curricula are horrible, and the religious discourse of some Muslim clerics is unacceptable," he said. "If persecutions continue, we are going to boycott the elections. And don't blame Copts if they turn to international law for protecting themselves," Gobrael said. Gobrael also called for the release of bloggers Maikel Nabil and Tassony Mariam Ragheb, "just like Loai Nagati and Asmaa Mahfouz were released.” After the press conference, attendees took part in a small protest in Shoubra, in front of the union's headquarters, chanting "Copts' blood is not cheap" and calling on Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy to "fight terrorism before organizing elections".
