GIZA: A Giza appeals committee required on Monday that Al-Omraneya district administration present documents proving that the community center for the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Church falls under the jurisdiction of the administration.
This is the very documentation on which Al-Omraneya district administration had based its decision to demolish the community center in the first place. It’s widely believed that the district administration stopped construction because the building was being turned into a church without acquiring the required licenses.
The Giza Archbishopric appealed last week to halt the decision allowing Al-Omraneya district administration to stop the construction of the community center, contending that since the building is located in a slum, the community center does not officially fall under the district administration’s urban planning jurisdiction.
The appeal also called for Al-Omraneya district administration to supply documentation that proves the community center does not belong to the district if such documentation exists.
Al-Omraneya district administration had issued Decision no. 560 of 2010 to cease construction of the church’s community center because the building violates urban planning terms and because the construction did not follow the architectural blueprints that were presented to the district administration to receive its building permit.
Lawyer of the Giza Archbishopric Adel El-Nimsawy told Daily News Egypt on Wednesday that the Giza appeals committee had asked the Archbishopric to present an official copy of Decision no. 560 of 2010, as well as a copy of Building Permit no. 112 of 2009. The Archbishopric has since fulfilled the appeals committee’s documentation request.
The appeal request specified that the decision to stop the community center’s construction cannot be implemented in the community center’s particular case because of the terms outlined in Article 28 of Law no. 118 of 2008.
Article 28 of Law no. 118 of 2008 states: “The rules of [the chapter that is being referenced in the decision to demolish the community center] are implemented to organize the building of local units, touristic and industrial zones, new urban compounds, and building and inhabited compounds [for which] the involved minister issues a decision.”
“The community center does not belong to any of the categories stated in [Article 28],” said El-Nimsawy. “So this law cannot be implemented [in] this case.”
The decision to demolish the construction site resulted in clashes between Coptic Christians and security forces on Nov. 24, leaving two dead and dozens injured. The clashes also led to the arrest of 156 Copts, 135 of whom have been released following a series of decisions made by the Giza Prosecutor General.
The appeals committee has set a Jan. 10 deadline for Al-Omraneya district administration to present the documents requested.
