20 - 26 September 2001
Issue No.552
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 September 2001 Issue No.552 |
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Copts consoled
Al-Nabaa's chief-editor was found guilty of religious sedition and sentenced to three years prison, much to the relief of Copts. Shaden Shehab reports from court
"The court rules for a three-year prison sentence and a fine of LE200," Judge Osama Mohamed Ali announced, passing sentence on Mamdouh Mahran, at the State Security Misdemeanours Court in Abbasiya on Sunday. Mahran, chief editor of the independent weekly Al-Nabaa, and its sister publication, the daily Akher Khabar, was tried for publishing articles and photographs on 17 and 18 June that purported to show a defrocked monk engaging in sexual activity with a woman.
The judge passing sentence over Mahran at a security-tight courtroom
photo: Ahmed Abdel Razek
"Long live justice... the sentence is a decoration on the judiciary's chest," cried Coptic Church lawyers. "This is not fair... we will take action," Mahran's lawyers replied.
Under sensational headlines, Mahran's newspapers claimed that the transgressions occurred inside the Deir Al- Muharraq monastery, located near the southern city of Assiut. They failed to mention that the monk had been expelled from the monastery. Mahran's story enraged Copts, and thousands demonstrated inside and outside the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya.
Security officers outnumbered the few reporters and lawyers present in the courtroom on Sunday. But strange enough, and unlike in previous hearing sessions, conditions were orderly. The three sessions which opened on 24 June, were sheer chaos, and security men had to cool things between Mahran and lawyers for the church. Mahran himself did not show up for any of the hearings.
Mahran faced several charges: undermining public order and social peace and spreading sensational misinformation; defaming the Church and harming national unity; inciting hatred and contempt for Christianity; publishing pornographic texts and pictures that offend public morality; and attempting to influence the judiciary.
Judge Ali explained to reporters assembled in his chamber that Mahran was found guilty on all charges except attempting to influence the judiciary. Ali pointed out that Mahran cannot be penalised for each charge, but only for the charge that carries the maximum penalty.
Reports published earlier by the local press had mistakenly assumed that Mahran, if found guilty on all charges, would face 12 years in prison, the sum total of penalties for all the charges.
Ali judged that Mahran intentionally planned to incite sectarian strife by defaming the Coptic Church and spreading misinformation. The proof, he added, was that, during the investigation, Mahran admitted he was uncertain of the authenticity of information he published, such as the claim that the defrocked monk had sex with as many as 5,000 women. Ali said that Mahran's headlines were published with intent to incite strife, including one that read, "The Muharraq monastery is transformed into a brothel." Ali also said that Mahran was guilty of publishing pornography taken from a videotape that Mahran admitted during investigations that he got from one of his staffers.
Mursi El-Sheikh, one of Mahran's lawyers, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "the sentence is wrongful. The judge did not listen to the defence's presentation but only to our remarks." He added, "We will file a lawsuit seeking to have the judge replaced. We will also send a clemency plea to President Hosni Mubarak."
State security cases cannot be appealed before higher courts. Their only recourse is a clemency plea to the president, acting in his capacity as military governor- general, under the emergency law in force since 1981.
El-Sheikh added that Mahran will only turn himself in if the sentence is approved by Mubarak and becomes final. Meanwhile, Ali ordered Mahran's arrest so that he could start serving the three-year sentence.
"Justice was done," said Naguib Gabriel, a church lawyer. "Although we had hoped for a severer sentence, our anger was allayed as soon as the judge pronounced the ruling," he added. Mamdouh Ramzi, another church lawyer, said, "Copts welcome this sentence. Mahran has been set as an example for all those who would defame religion and sacred sites."
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