Family Of Four Murdered In Jersey City

[fayoumy]

السيد المشرف

المؤتمرالصحفى والاعلان خطوات عظيمه و قويه...الف شكر لكل المنفذين...

الرجا شرح كيف يمكن المساعده ماديآ حيث ان كل هذه الجهود اكيد تكلف مبالغ طائله...نداءالي جميع الاقباط ان يعضدوا كل هذه الجهود..كل واحد علي حسب مقدرته

[Bohira]

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

For More Information
Calcopts@aol.com (310) 641-3387 / Copts@Copts.com (202)737-3660

[Bohira]

Coptic Church Urges Thorough Investigation
In Murder of Jersey City Family
Friday, January 21, 2005

Thursday, January 20, 2005 the East Coast Coptic Orthodox Clergy met at the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, located in Cedar Grove, NJ and issued the following statement

The Coptic Orthodox community is horrified and grieved by the recent brutal murder in Jersey City, NJ of a Coptic Orthodox Christian family. Hossam Armanious, 47, his wife Amal, 37, and their two daughters, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were found slain in their home on Friday, January 14, 2005. According to early reports, each one of the family members was found bound and gagged with their throats slashed

The Armanious family was a devout, Christ-loving family, who followed the peaceful teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ. They were active members in the parish community of St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church of Jersey City, and were loved by all in the church and in the community at large

Since the discovery of the murdered family, there have been many rumors and speculations about possible motives circulating throughout the community and in the media. The Church trusts that the proper authorities will continue to conduct their investigation in a manner that is comprehensive and complete and which will result in justic
The Coptic Orthodox community is concerned that this brutal killing may have been the result of a hate crime against a Coptic Christian family. Although the Coptic Orthodox Church does not condone jumping to any conclusions or singling out any one specific group until all the facts have been discovered, this crime has sparked an outpouring of emotion and resulted in unrest in our community. Fear and concern also resonate throughout many other communities of New Jersey since countless families, regardless of background, feel more vulnerable to crime in light of the Armanious family killing

We urge the authorities to give this criminal investigation the highest priority and we pledge our complete cooperation in that regard. We expect the dedication of every necessary resource until the truth is established; the authorities bring the perpetrator(s) immediately to justice, bring closure to this heinous act and maintain peace and safety in our streets and homes. Anything less will be unjust and result in further unrest in the community

The Church prays for the repose of the souls of the Armanious family, and for peace and unity in our communities and the whole world. We pray that the law enforcement officials apprehend the perpetrator(s) and quickly bring them to justice. We also pray for the perpetrator(s) that they may find repentance, and turn themselves in to the authorities in order to restore peace to all

The Coptic Orthodox Church is an Apostolic Church founded by St. Mark the Evangelist (Gospel writer) in the first century A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church is the original church of Alexandria and is one of the oldest Christian Orthodox churches. The Coptic Orthodox Church has been native to Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa until its first immigrants came to the United States and other countries and established churches beginning in the 1960’s. Currently, there are over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in North America

For more information, please contact
Fr. Antonious Tanious
(732) 947-0922