holding a minor" at his shelter for young women, a Christian news agency reported Tuesday, November 29.
Compass Direct said Shafik Saleh Shafik was sentenced to one year in prison with hard labor last month for holding a 17-year-old girl at his Cairo shelter for troubled women “without the permission of the authorized guardians,” although her parents had given him custody
Defense lawyer Ramses Raouf el-Nagar reportedly plans to challenge the ruling this week on grounds of court corruption, misapplication of the law and failure to justify the verdict.
"WEIRD VERDICT"
"None of the accusations in this case actually dealt with the reality of the situation," El-Nagar was quoted as saying. "It was a weird verdict." Reports of the case came a day after news emerged that another Egyptian Copt jailed without charges for 28 months has been released from the Al-Gharbaliat Prison near Alexandria.
Hany Samir Tawfik, now 29, was set free on June 28, seven months after his case was first publicized outside Egypt, Compass Direct said.
He had been arrested by Egypt’s State Security Investigation (SSI) authorities on March 3, 2003. A Coptic Christian who had gone to Saudi Arabia to work, Tawfik was deported back to Egypt in the summer of 2002 after requesting asylum from the US Embassy in Riyadh.
NEW DETENTION
He was allegedly promptly detained for interrogation by the SSI but released after 52 days. Seven months later, Tawfik was again arrested under unknown accusations, Compass Direct said.
The reasons for his re-arrest by order of the Interior Ministry have not been made public. but the young Copt admitted earlier this month to Compass that "there were many black pages in the diary" of his life.
While in prison, “I got to read through the Bible, to understand it and my own faith,” he reportedly said. Tawfik’s widowed mother had appealed directly to Interior Minister Habib el-Adly for her son’s release, Compass Direct reported.
LOSING EYESIGHT
While in prison, Tawfik apparently came close to losing his eyesight, weakened already by lens implants he received five years ago. His physical stress in prison aggravated his condition further, causing the iris in both eyes to rupture, Compass Direct said.
Through funds raised by local Coptic Christians, he has undergone three eye operations since his release. The first two surgeries in July restored considerable sight in his right eye, followed by an October 17 operation on his left eye.
Two more operations are pending on his left eye, he told Compass Direct. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt, who comprise less than 6 percent of Egypt’s predominantly Muslim population of nearly 78 million. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Egypt)
