A Detained Christian Blogger Is Bargained To Turn To Islam For His Release From Borg

[menaa2005]

To Whom It May Concern
A Detained Christian Blogger Is Bargained To Turn To Islam For His Release From Borg Al Arab Prison
Hany Nazeer From Prison : Nagea Hammadi's Bishop Turned Me In So That Security Would Back Him Up In Church Disputes

Cairo 6/8/2009


The Arabic Network For Human Rights Information ,ANHRI, stated that despite the administration of Borg Al Arab prison stopped the lawyers of the legal support unit from visiting Hany Nazeer , blogger detained since 3/10/2009, yet AHNRI had access to information that Hany is pressured to turn to Islam for his release.

Despite the legal banning imposed by prison security on ANHRI lawyers and canceling three visits in a row for the Christian blogger Hany Nazeer and the secular blogger Kareem Amer, ANHRI managed to learn the actual prison conditions which Hany is suffering as ANHRI previously managed to touch base with Kareem Amer.

ANHRI learnt , quoting from Hany Nazeer, that he is pressured to turn to Islam if he wants to be set free, "He told me if you want out , be a Moslem."

Another quote from Hany to ANHRI, " Bishop Kirollos, of Nagea Hammadi is the one who turned me in after he denounced me to security. He bluffed we were going for a short investigation and it will be all over. Then I found out it was a charade to turn me in to state security."

State security has kidnapped two of Hany's brothers in Ocrober 2008 to make him turn himself in, thinking that he posts topics of insult to Islam on his blog. Hany mentioned that his Moslem friends of the same village browsed his blog and saw no offense to Islam in his posts. Yet, state security with the collusion of Nagea Hammadi's Bishop, Kirollos, arrested him to hide their failure to identify the unknown "Father Utah". Now , Bishop Kirollos has state security on his side in his disputes with the mother church in Cairo. Hany sent two calls via ANHRI,

The first to the minister if interior , " I did nothing wrong to be put in jail."

The second to Pope Shenouda III ," Is it about time to reform Nagea Hammdi's church?"

ANHRI said, "The deeply rooted corruption in Borg al Arab prison, is back firing. Though our lawyers were not allowed to visit their clients, we have sources of information in the prison. It is better for the minister of information to release this innocent young blogger and show some transparency and respect to the law and start a serious investigation with the masters of this prison who care the least about the law."