CAIRO: Al Kalima Human Rights Center filed a case to the Administrative Court calling for the resignation of Qena Governor Magdy Ayoub, citing repeated sectarian clashes in the area.
Al Kalima is accusing Ayoub, Egypt’s only Coptic governor, of being responsible for repeated incidents of sectarian strife in his governorate and the escalation of violence against Copts, amid growing tension in the aftermath of the shooting of six Copts and a Muslim guard on Christmas Eve in Nagaa Hammadi early January. The official complaint appeals decision 115 of 2008 made by President Hosni Mubarak which reinstated Ayoub as governor.
Ayoub was appointed governor for the first time in January 2006.
The governor hasn’t done any good for his governorate; he is biased against Copts which might be because he is the only Coptic governor, head of Al Kalima, Mamdouh Nakhla told Daily News Egypt.
Sectarian tension has significantly increased ever since Ayoub assumed his position and violence against Copts is also on the rise, Al Kalima said in a statement.
“He has not issued one permit to renovate churches, the statement continued. “Instead, he has hindered the bureaucratic procedures necessary for building new churches ever since the right to sign off on these permits went from the president himself to governors.
Even after the president authorized governors to issue renovation licenses for churches, Ayoub did not issue a single one despite the fact that Qena is home to a lot of rundown churches, added Nakhla.
Ayoub is also being accused of discriminating against Copts. The complaint claims that Ayoub ordered compensation and a pension only for the Muslim guards family.
At the same time, he refused to issue compensation for the Coptic victims and those wounded in the attacks.
The governor has lost credibility by violating the oath. Allowing him to remain in his position will have grave consequences on the governorate and, in turn, will affect the entire country, the statement continued.
