The public opinion in Egypt was surprised by the message from Mahmoud al-Alayli, head of the Free Egyptians Party, in which he told a story about a judge who refused to hear a Christian witness and demanded the lawyer to bring a Muslim witness instead.Can a citizen be deprived of one of his civil rights because of his religion? If this is the position of the judiciary against a Christian citizen, how can we complain of the fanatics and extremists among the public! Moreover, how can such fanatic judge issue ruling in other cases related to sectarian strife, building a church or other Christian complaints!
I see that the subject is more dangerous than burning churches and blowing them up. It is more important than targeting Christian citizens and preventing them from praying, and it is more important than preventing Christians from taking senior jobs in the state. The issue is about extracting a basic civil right before the judiciary based on one s religion. It should be known that several cases in four where a Christian mother was deprived from custody to her children because their father changed his religion to Islam, which is considered by Egyptian law: the best religion! This is clear in the Islamic books and has been practiced by Egyptian courts for years.
During the case of the child Mario whose father was converted into Islam, the MP Dr. Ibtesam Habib said that the law gives custody of the child to his Muslim father as he should be Muslim like his father. The child can only decide what religion to follows when he grows up.
Thus, there are many laws that are misguided and applied by some judges, which has to be fixed even before reforming the religious discourse. Justice should have no religion, but our law in Egypt used to discriminate against Christians which stands as stumbling block before establishing a modern and civil state here in Egypt.
