Kamilia Gaballah had fought with her ex-husband Medhat Ramses Labib over alimony support and custody of sons Andrew and Mario since he left her and converted to Islam so that he could remarry in 1999, Christian news agency Compass Direct News reported.
However on September 24 the Appeal Court of Alexandria granted custody of 13-year-old Christian twins Andrew and Mario to her husband, raising eyebrows among legal scholars.
EGYPT LAW
The court order came despite Egyptian legislation granting custody of children to their mothers until the age of 15, and a reported ‘fatwa’, or religious ruling, from Egypt’s most respected Islamic scholar, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, giving her custody.
"This decision was dangerous because it was not taken in accordance with Egyptian law but according to sharia [Islamic] law," said Naguib Gobraiel, Gaballah’s lawyer and president of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations in published remarks.
He was quoted as saying that Egypt’s civic code calls for children under the age of 15 to stay with their mother regardless of their religion. "They want to stay with their mother,” said Gobraiel. "They don’t know anything about Islam and sharia. They are Christians and go to church on Sundays."
The ruling comes amid reports of growing pressure on Egypt’s Christian minority, the Coptic people. Christian rights investigators said this week they were also concerned about the growing number of violent attacks against Christians and accused Egyptian authorities of "complicity" in at least some incidents.
