Egyptian Coptic Christian in Intensive Care after Muslim assault, 2006

The story of the atrocity below tells of a young Coptic Christian man who was beaten to death by a Muslim gang in April this year – and the discrimination and denial of justice that is now following. A glimpse into a world rarely reported by the mainstream media – life as a Dhimmi (non-Muslim second-class citizen) in a Muslim state:

Malak Adel Fawzy, a 19 year old Egyptian Coptic man, was murdered on 9 April in a savage attack. The tragedy took place in Tanta, 94 km north of Cairo, when Amir Aziz, a friend of Malak Fawzy, had a quarrel with Motaz-Bellah El-Hefny; the quarrel was stopped by bystanders.

Motaz later phoned a few friends, two of whom are registered with the police for violent behaviour, to join him near a coffee house where Amir Malak, were. The defendants lurked in an alley and saw Malak leaving the coffee house, who upon seeing them tried to run away.

The prosecution report said that “The victim was assaulted by the defendants wilfully, deliberately, with premeditation and malice aforethought. They went to the place where he would be present. Defendant Ashraf Shubaki prepared for this purpose a tool (brass knuckles); when they caught him, defendant Motaz intercepted him and Shubaki hit him on his head with the brass knuckle. He fell to the ground, after which, incited by Motaz, they all kicked him with their feet as pre-arranged between them, causing injuries which claimed his life.”

Adel Fawzy, the father of the deceased is demanding justice for his murdered son and an appropriate punishment for the culprits according to the law. “I do not want my only son’s case to end up like the recent murders of the young Coptic man Jeshua Gamal from Dafash or Milad Ibrahim from El-Tayeba, in Samalut, Minya, where in both murders, the Muslim defendants were not charged according to the law, but got acquitted,” he told Nader Shoukry of Copts United advocacy in a video interview. “I appeal to the conscience of the court: my son was innocent and was treacherously killed — the judge is my last resort”.

Fawzy wrote to President Mubarak, the Prime Minister, Justice and Interior ministers, with no response. He even created a group on Facebook in support of his case. “I am sending a plea to all human rights organisations to support me until my murdered son gets justice,” he told Shoukry.

But the father is doubtful that justice will be served. The Chief Prosecutor in Tanta changed his original classification of the crime from “deliberate and premeditated killing” to “assault leading to death.” The report of the prosecution concluded “the defendants did not intend to kill him, but death was caused by a fatal blow, and four of the five defendants are under the age of 18 years.”

Malak Abdel Fawzy - brutally slaughtered by Muslim gang

“Will my son be deprived of justice because of the Chief Prosecutor? How can he charge them with ‘unintentional killing’ due to a blow on the head? Is this God’s Justice? He was with me when I went to identify my son in the morgue. What about the more than twenty kicks he received in the face? My son had no recognisable face features — they were all wiped out.”

When Fawzy learned that the charge was amended from murder to manslaughter, he went to the Chief Prosecutor, but was told “he cannot do anything about it, and this will be sorted out in Court.” he told Shoukry. “I am just a poor man with no money to hire the best lawyers like the defendants. I believe that the father of defendant Motaz, who is a professor at Tanta University, influenced the Prosecution’s decision.”

According to legal experts, in order for the prosecution to arrive at ‘unintentional killing’ they falsified the record to show that the incident was just a brawl between juveniles with assault leading to death. According to eyewitnesses’ statements and defendants’ confessions, the crime had all the elements of premeditated murder with malice aforethought. Prosecution ignored circumstances such as lurking for the victim, multiple accomplices, preparation and use of deadly instrument in the attack (brass knuckles), persistent aggression without resistance, and mutilation of a dead body.

“This case is premeditated murder. These are five people who allied to murder Malak” commented Dr. Naguib Gabraeel, renowned attorney and head of the Egyptian Union Human Rights Organisation. “I will go myself to the criminal court in Tanta to ask the judge to amend the registry of the charge from ‘Assault leading to death’ to ‘premeditated murder’ which carries the death penalty.” The court hearing is scheduled for September 14th, 2009.

The two main eyewitnesses, Hassan Mohammed Hassan and Mark Karam, stated to the police that when they tried to save the victim from their hands, the assailants threatened that if they did not go away they will be killed like Malak.

Malak’s mother told Sherif Ramzy of Freecopts advocacy that the Tanta University Hospital phoned them before midnight on that night to tell them that their son Malak was mildly injured. “When we went there we were told he was having an operation, and charged us 700 Egyptian pounds. Later they told us they needed blood for him, which we donated. 15 minutes later they told us he died.” she said. “If he was dead before arriving there, so what were they playing at?”

“Prosecution tried to intimidate me to stop demanding a just punishment for the perpetrators, they tried to buy me off with money on condition I would reconcile with the killers, but I refused.” Fawzy said. “Even the main witness in the case, Hassan Mohammed Hassan was exposed to material temptations, to change his testimony against the defendants.”

According to Magdy Khalil, Coptic political analyst and researcher, “All violations against the Copts are deliberately falsely described in a misleading manner.” Christian advocacy groups believe that the Egyptian police routinely tamper with evidence and use faulty classification of violations against Copts, in order to help Muslims avoid murder convictions, since according to Shariah law “the blood of the Muslim should not be shed for the blood of an unbeliever.”

In spite of the many Copts having been killed over the years, not one Muslim has ever been convicted. A recent example was the 5-year sentence handed down to two policemen for throwing a Coptic man to his death out of a window.

Dr. Naguib Gabraeel, who is a Copt himself, said that the prevailing Coptic conditions have become dangerous, “How long will the Copts put up with murder and violations against humanity and their natural rights? We simply cannot take it any longer. It is happening everyday. We plead to President Mubarak to protect the Copts.”

For a glimpse of how the Copts are forced to live in Egypt, please take a little time out to view the 3-part documentary from Channel 4′s ‘Unreported World’ series below:

(note – this is a ‘playlist’ embed and each of the three parts will play sequentially)

Non-Muslims face universal discrimination and harsh treatment in the Muslim world. From Pakistan to Turkey, legal systems are stacked against them. Educational advantages and employment into prominent positions are denied them – almost invariably, they live on the fringes of society and struggle to keep their heads above water.

There is no worse example of this Muslim bigotry than Egypt. In addition to the treatment described above, Egyptians, particularly the minority Coptic Christians who form approx. 10% of the population, can expect their women and girls to be sexually assaulted and raped with impunity, kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam and generally rated as fair game by Muslim males.

Churches are burned to the ground or vandalised. Priests are assaulted. The police turn a bind eye and the politicians suffer from selective deafness.

In a supposedly democratising country, these people are the Untouchables of Egypt. This has to stop.

Egypt has a Tourism Industry worth US$12 billion annually. It also receives massive foreign aid payments. Any significant impact on this revenue would hurt badly.

What should you do if you want to do something to help?

a) Vacation in Egypt? Just don’t go. And write to your local Egyptian Embassy* to tell them why. Copy in your local MP or Congressman, too.

b) Spread this article and message to everyone you know.

* Site a little clunky, but works

[Main story: AINA]

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