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EGYPT
Kangaroo courtChristian faces long prison term
On June 5 William Shaiboub, Coptic Christian, was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor for the murder of two men in al-Kosheh village in August 1998 after a trial that critics said was a sham. The sentence was passed down three days after the civil authorities opened official celebrations to mark the 2000th anniversary of Christ’s “Flight into Egypt” in the presence of the country’s Christian and Muslim leaders.
Shaiboub was first taken into custody in September 1998. His arrest followed the detention of over 1,000 local Coptic Christians, many of whom claim they were tortured by local police. According to reports, Shaiboub himself was hanged upside down by his feet, beaten, tied to a chair and given electric shocks to sensitive parts of his body.
The human-rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide observed that the only prosecution witnesses against Shaiboub, Abdu Mikhail Malak and Yasser Shahid Allam, both army conscripts, later retracted their statements saying that they had only accused him under duress. Malak reportedly refused to give false testimony against Shaiboub despite being tortured, but when police threatened to rape his mother he finally succumbed to their pressure.
Shaiboub’s case has received considerable international attention, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the numerous postponements in his trial led to widespread speculation that the timing of his sentencing was being deliberately delayed until a time when international attention might be occupied elsewhere. In the end, his sentence was handed down on the same day that trial proceedings opened for 96 suspects allegedly implicated in the massacre of 21 Christians in al-Kosheh at the beginning of the year.
Christian Solidarity spokesman Catherine Field said, “News of William Shaiboub’s sentence comes at a time when the Egyptian government is carrying out a promotional drive to increase tourism in the year 2000, inviting visitors to discover the land where the infant Christ fled for safety from the murderous intentions of King Herod. The irony cannot be lost on Egypt’s Coptic Christian community who routinely suffer injustice and discrimination at every level of society.”
The Egyptian government sponsored ceremonies to mark the 2000th anniversary of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. Prime Minster Atef Ebeid was present at the observance, along with the ministers of culture and tourism. The government’s honored guests included Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church; the Coptic Catholic Patriarch Stephanos II Ghattas; Pastor Safouet al-Bayadi, head of the Egyptian Protestant Church; and Sheik Hussein Tantaoui, Imam of Al-Alzhar University, the world’s highest authority for Sunni Muslims.