A female Student and Her Friend were Released on a Bail of 100 EGP after being Investigated due to Charges of Defaming Religion ANHRI Calls the Authorities to Stop Setting Thoughts and Ideas into Trials
Fakous District Court decree of releasing “Basma Rabi’a” and her friend “Hamady Gamal” on a bail of 100 EGP after being jailed for 4 days due to investigation.
ANHRI expressed its severe denunciation to the expansion of using the charge of “Defaming the Religion” by the public prosecution. In addition to the escalation of harassing the different views from the dominate views in Egypt after transforming, the student, Information Department, Benha University, from a victim to defendant and referred her and her friend to investigation before Fakous District Court. The court decree of imprisoning her for 4 days on pending investigation due to charges of “defaming the religion” before the court decree to release them on a bail of 100 EGP.
“Basma Raba’a” 18 years, had went to, on last Friday, to file a record against her mother, brother and uncle accusing them of physical abuse and murder attempt using poison. While she was in the police station, her mother came and filed a record against her. The mother had accused her and her friend “Hamdy Gamal” of defaming the Islamic religion, 22 years old and the student of the technological institute 10th of Ramdan. The record no. 7517/ Fakous Misdemeanors was filed. They appeared before the Fakous District Prosecution, which decree to imprison them for 4 days due to pending investigation due to charges of “Defaming the religion” and the imprisoning of her friend due to “defaming the religion and inciting a juvenile to run away”, While Her family were released. Today, Basma and Hamdy appeared before the renew-judge who decreed of release both of them on a bail of 100 EGP.
On Sohag, yesterday the Public Prosecution decree to release “Mostafa Hasan”, supervisor in “Tahrir Primary School” in the city of Tama, on a bail of 300 EGP after investigating him due to charges of spreading thoughts contradicting with the Islamic religion teachings. A parent of a student filed a record against him accusing him of dening the story of “people of the cave” and consider it as a myth. The directorate of education decided to send the supervisor to the administrative work to ban him from communicating with the students.
ANHRI said that “this charge is increasingly used by the citizens recently to pay back due to differences between them. This what has actually happened in the fact of the female student as her mother used this charge to waiver herself from the legal responsibility that is represented in assaulting her. It is actually accompagined by the expansion of defaming the religion stipulations in the Egyptian penal code. In particularly, after the movie that insulted the prophet “innocence Muslims”, that led to the increasing of the trials due to this charge and it became a sword directed to the neck of the freedom of thought and expression”.
ANHRI mentions that “Marag Misdemeanors Court will, on October 17, have the second hearing of Alber’s trial, who are accused of defaming the Islam and Christianity. Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud Abdullah “Abu Islam”, the head of Al-Umma culture channel and his son “Islam” the chief executive of the channel in addition to Mohamed Yassin Gad, editor in Tahrir newspaper, will appear in the second hearing due to charges of defaming Christianity before Naser City Misdemeanors Court on this October 14.
On September 27, 2012 the appellate Misdemeanors court of the city of “Tamah” uphelded the imprisonment sentence, issued by Sohag Misdemeanors court, of 6 years against the teacher “Bishoy Kameel Kamel” due to charges of defaming the religions and swearing at the prophet in addition to the president “Mohamed Morsi”, as he posted materials on his page on Facebook.
ANHRI warns “the public prosecution from the intervention of the religious motivations of the district attorneys in the investigations that could led them to be biased against them. That actually happened in the case of Alber Saber and repeated in the case of Basma as the public prosecution decided to release her family but not her, then the district court released her on a bail.
ANHRI said that “the president Morsi must keep his promises and achieve the goals of 25th January revoultion. He must protect the freedom of thought and expression, especially, it is not accepted after the revoultion that a person could found himself threatened to be imprisoned due to thoughts or opinions contradicting with the majority of the ruling authority”.
