Two Christian activists acquitted by Egyptian state security court

Two Christian human rights activists have been acquitted by an Egyptian state security court. They were detained on charges of defaming Islam, a judicial source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Adel Fawzy Faltas and Peter Ezzat had been held since August 8. “Despite the acquittal, it was not immediately clear whether they had yet been released from jail,” the article states.

Faltas and Ezzat, members of the Canada-based Middle East Christians Association (MECA), were accused by Egypt’s state security prosecutors of threatening the social peace by propagating anti-Islamic material.

According to the article: “The material in question was a book entitled ‘The Persecuted’ that the association compiled from Egyptian newspaper reports and court cases which involve perceived persecution of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.”

Originally, they were also accused of converting a Muslim, named as Mohamed Ahmed Hegazy, to Christianity, although this charge was later dropped due to lack of evidence.

As the article notes: “Proselytizing to promote the Islamic faith is taken for granted in Egypt, though not enshrined in law. However, promoting any other religion is considered unacceptable. Conversions to other religions are not banned by law.”

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