“Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Psalm 12:5 [TNIV]

Egypt

Christian blogger released following change in Emergency Law

A Coptic Christian blogger arrested on false charges of insulting Islam, then held for almost two years without charge under the country’s Emergency Law, has been released from prison.

Hani Nazeer, 31, a school social worker, was arrested on 3 October 2008 after posting a link to a Coptic website on his web log, ‘The Preacher of Love’. The Coptic website contained a link to an online copy of a controversial book written in response to Azazil, a novel critical of Christianity.

During his imprisonment Nazeer was beaten, pressured to convert to Islam and exposed to constant deprivation. He spent most of the time housed in a single cell with 30 convicted felons. Nazeer speculated that authorities placed him there to put pressure on him. “One prisoner told me, ‘If you convert, you will be out in two days’,” he explained.

Nazeer was released on 22 July because of recent reforms to Egypt’s Emergency Law. The Law, passed in 1981 following the assassination of President Sadat, was designed to be used to detain terrorists and others who violently opposed the state. In practice, however, it was also used to silence opposition to President Mubarak’s regime and persecute those outside of the religious mainstream – such as Muslims who convert to Christianity, or members of Islamic groups considered to be heretical. In May, Egypt amended the Emergency Law to stipulate that only people suspected of committing terrorist acts or selling illegal narcotics could be arrested.

Azza Taher Matar, a member of the International Relations Unit at the Arabic Center for Human Rights Information, said it is likely that the reforms to the Emergency Law will lead to authorities filing more charges of religious defamation against people in an effort to work around changes to the law.

Source: Compass Direct

Open Doors has launched a global petition for religious liberty. For more information and to sign the petition please go to www.opendoorsuk.org/rtb

Please pray:

1. Since his release, Nazeer has been concerned about his safety. Pray for protection for him and his family
2. Praise God for the change to the Emergency Law. Pray for further changes to Egypt’s laws that will bring greater religious freedom
3. Pray that many people would sign Open Doors’ global petition for religious liberty and that the UN would extend rather than restrict religious freedom as a result.