materials have been released, a leading human rights organization said Monday, April 19. Barnabas Fund, which investigates the plight of persecuted Christians reported that the four young men, identified as Peter Kamel, Ishak Yessa, John Fokha, and Andrew Saeed, were freed on April 3.
Egyptian police of Naweeba district arrested them after raiding their rooms at a resort hotel of Sharm El-Sheik and confiscating Bibles and various Christian tapes.
Their releases came amid international pressure as "none of these materials were illegal and there was nothing found in their possession which would have justified their arrest," the human rights organization added. The students were initially charged with "disturbing the national unity and threatening the social peace", which Barnabas Fund called "a broad and vague charge commonly used in Egypt."
Their detention was extended several times, with no trial date set. "However, all charges against them have now been dropped," Barnabas Fund said.
GROWING CONCERN
There has been growing concern among human rights organizations about the plight of Christians in mainly Islamic Egypt, amid fresh reports that Coptic girls have been forced by Muslim militants to convert to Islam. Some of them have been kidnapped, Barnabas Fund and the United States Copts Association have reported.
Barnabas Fund has urged Christians to its words "Praise God for the release of the four young men, and (to) pray for them as they recover from their ordeal" adding it was important to pray that "all similar arrests of innocent Christians will cease." Washington has also expressed concern about the rapid spread of Islamic extremism throughout the Middle East at the expense of minority groups such as Christians and pushed for reforms as part of its efforts to fight terrorism.
Egypt, which has been seen as a key player within the 22-member Arab League, has often been singled out by human rights groups as not doing enough to end persecution of non Muslims.
