Egypt’s Public Prosecutor announced earlier today that he is currently considering the possibility of appealing a controversial ruling to acquit three men accused of assaulting a Coptic Christian woman and parading her naked in a 2016 hate crime in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya. This comes following social media outrage after the Minya Criminal Court ruled yesterday to acquit the defendants—Nazeer, his brother Abdul Moneim, and their father Ishaq—who were allegedly involved in the brutal attack against then 66-year-old Soad Thabet. The three had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia and ordered to pay EGP 100,000 in damages in relation to the same case, according to local news outlets. It is unclear, however, whether either of these penalties were enforced. News of the suspects’ acquittal has also stirred controversy on social media. The verdict has angered many in the Coptic Christian community, as well as human rights and feminist groups, with many speculating on whether the victim and her family were pressured or dissuaded by the leaders of the local community. Controversy also surrounded the state’s complicity in instituting sectarianism, while others defended the verdict. Activist…
Public Prosecutor Might Appeal Acquittal of Suspects in Hate Crime Against Coptic Christian Woman
December 18, 2020
