Gowhari Court Hearing today adjourned to 2nd May 2009
United Copts GB
In a phone call to Nabil Gobrial, Gowhari lawyer today, United Copts GB learned that today’s Administrative court hearing in Cairo, was adjourned to 2nd May 2009.
Maher Ahmed El-Mota’sem Bellah Al-Gowhari, a secret convert from Islam to Christianity for over 30 years, his conversion remained secret because of predicted great hardship which could result from openly converting to Christianity in increasingly radicalised society. Al-Gowhari decided to take the brave step and declare his conversion to Christianity as he felt " it was his duty is to witness to Christ for the sake of could be up to 4 million secret converts to Christianity in Egypt who have not been able to declare their faith out of fear" Al-Gowhary said.
Al-Gowhari has taken the Minister of Interior and the Egyptian Civil Registration Office to court because he was refused a change of his ID card to reflect his conversion to Christianity. Shari’a “Islamic Rules” which is a de facto law in Personal Affairs in Egypt prevents conversion from Islam to any other religion in stark contradiction to international Human Rights treaties and covenants.
Mobs often threaten to kill Muslim converts “Apostates” and police does not give any protection to converts either, converts from Islam to Christianity have to go into hiding as in Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy case.
In today’s hearing the judge Hamdi Yasin throwing the ball into the Coptic church quarter, has asked the Coptic church for a letter of acceptence of the new convert and referred the certificate of conversion provided by a Cypriot orthodox church to State Expert Council to pass an opinion and ordered the Egyptian Civil Registration Office to present its file to the courts by 11/4/09.
The court will prepare its final memo by 18/4/09.