بيان من الهيئات القبطية بجميع فروعها المنتشرة حول العالم فى ذكرى رحيل شهداء عائلة أرمانيوس
نشر البيان فى الواشنطن تايمز 2/15/2005
The Blood of the Armanious Family Cries Out For Justice
It was in the year 1997, in his hometown, Luxor, in Upper Egypt that Hossam Armanious, a Coptic (Egyptian) Christian, was exposed to the most troubling scene of his life. Terrorists surged into the Temple of Hatshepsut and massacred 58 Western tourists. The incident was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in modern history. Blood ran like a stream over the ground of that ancient city. The event compelled Hossam and his family to pack-up and leave that very year. They headed towards America seeking freedom, prosperity and security. Never did they imagine that they would face a similar dreadful fate in the USA. On Friday January 14, 2005, the police broke into the Armanious family house in Jersey City and discovered the bodies of Hossam (47), his wife Amal (37), and their two daughters, Sylvia (15) and Monica (8). They were all found bound, gagged and stabbed to death. Words cannot express the shock that this criminal calamity caused civilized peoples around the globe to experience. To date, the authorities have not yet come forth with an official declaration of motive or suspects for the crime. They still have a challenge of solving this cruel injustice and bringing it to closure. Even though many people harbor what seem to be logical theories, we can not rush to judgment or point the finger of guilt towards any group. That is a responsibility reserved for law enforcement investigative agencies and the courtroom. While we Copts in the USA and elsewhere thank the authorities for their efforts thus far, we urge them to diligently and aggressively continue their search and investigation until the criminals are arrested and brought to justice. Every relevant question must be asked, every lead must be pursued and every suspicious group must be investigated. No effort should be spared, and no stone should be left unturned in order to make sure that such a crime would not pass It has been said, “A man’s home is his castle.If the Armanious family could not find safety in their home in America, how can other Americans expect to find safety in theirs? To honor the memory of the Armanious family, and for all Americans to regain the sense of security in their homes, we dearly need to see that the killers who committed this heinous crime are identified, arrested and brought to justice. We fully trust that the American law enforcement system will uncover the facts and render justice to the victims.
The family speaks at their first press conference today, Tuesday, February 15, 2005 at 3:00 pm in the National Press Club’s Zenger Room in Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by the following Organizations
•American Coptic Association, USA •American Middle Eastern •Christian Association, USA •Christian Copts of California, USA •Coptic American Friendship Association, USA •US Copts Association, USA •Canadian Coptic Association, Ontario, Canada •Canadian Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Canada •UK Coptic Association, UK •European Coptic Association, France •French Coptic Association, France •Australian Coptic Association, Australia •Australian Egyptian Human Rights Association, Australia •Al-Masry Newspaper, Australia
Supported by the following Activists
Youssef Awad, MD, USA Mounir Bishay, USA Safwat Guindy, DDS, USA Claire Hanna, USA George Hanna, USA William A. Hanna, PhD, USA Kamal Ibrahim, MD, USA Milad Iskander, USA Saad Iskander, USA Atef Jacoub, USA Magdy Khalil, USA Khairy Malek, MD, USA Michael Meunier, USA Victor Michael, DDS, USA Seratial Misdary, USA Heidi Saad, USA Saad Michael Saad, PhD, USA Ehab Yacoub, MD, USA Nabil Abdelmalik, Canada Fayek Botrous, Canada Mishriki Guindi, Canada Maher Riskalla, Canada Emad Youssef, Canada Helmy Guirguis, MD, UK Ibrahim Habib, MD, UK Nagi Awad,France Adel Gorgy, France Adel Guindy, France Samuel Fahed, Australia Fikry Max, Australia Nazuih Youssef, Australia Amal Garas