CAIRO: The Administrative Court at State Council adjourned Mohamed Higazy’s case to Jan. 15.
Gamal Eid, Higazy’s lawyer and the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), asked the judge for a continuance on Tuesday to allow him more time to study all the documents.
Higazy filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Interior’s refusal to change his religion from Islam to Christianity on his national ID card.
“We’ll ask the court for Higazy’s right and any other citizen’s right in believing in whichever faith they want, Eid said.
Eid said he will present the document that proves that Higazy had requested the change on his ID card from the government but was refused. Higazy’s previous lawyer Mamdouh Nakhla earlier claimed that Higazy did not provide him with this document.
Eid also discussed the possibility of acquiring a document from the church confirming Higazy’s conversion. Although Higazy was baptized in the Coptic Orthdox Church, Eid doubts the church would issue such a certificate. The Protestant Church could issue this certificate, Eid added, but that’s up to Higazy to decide.
“But we don’t need the church’s certificate because the case covers two issues: First, Higazy’s right to abandon Islam and second his right to choose whichever faith he wants, be it Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion. It’s also his right not to choose another religion, Eid said. But if the court insists on such a certificate, they will obtain it, he added.
Eid also stressed that Higazy hasn’t left the country – something that the court also confirmed – contrary to what some lawyers affiliated with the Ministry of Interior have claimed.
Eight lawyers showed up on Tuesday to join the ministry’s defense team. Higazy was only represented by the HrInfo lawyers: Eid and Reda Ahmed Sayed. The Hisham Mubarak Center is expected to join Eid and Sayed in the next court session.
No Coptic lawyer had asked to join after Nakhla withdrew from the case.
