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Tag: Suez Canal University

  • Egyptian student given prison sentence for atheist Facebook posts

    Egyptian student given prison sentence for atheist Facebook posts

    Egyptian student imprisoned for atheist Facebook posts. (AFP Photo)
    Egyptian student given prison sentence for atheist Facebook posts.
    (AFP Photo)

    A student from Ismailia was given a one year prison sentence by a court Monday for contempt of religion relating to activities on campus and atheist statements online.

    Sherif Gaber, 22, was studying at Suez Canal University in 2013, when teaching staff and fellow students reported him via a petition to the institution’s President. They said he had made posts supporting atheism on Facebook, and suspected him of being behind a page called ‘The Atheists’.

    Subsequently, the university’s then-president Mohamed A. Mohamedein personally filed a legal complaint against the student to the local prosecution on the grounds of contempt of religion. Monday’s verdict on the case allows Gaber to avoid the prison sentence on a bail of EGP 1,000. However, a retrial that could increase the sentence to over two years is due to take place in the coming weeks.

    Speaking to Daily News Egypt, Gaber said how he was a “good student… top of his class”, but that his run-in with the university began after he challenged a science teacher. This arose over the teacher calling homosexuality a sin, and for homosexuals to “be crucified in the middle of the streets”.

    According to Gaber, a lecturer from the university proceeded to print posts from
    Gaber’s Facebook page that questioned religion. In front of a class, the lecturer declared that he would submit them as evidence to the University’s president and the prosecutor general.

    Gaber said that nothing happened for a few months, and then on 27 October 2013 he was arrested from his home at 3am.

    “[I couldn’t believe] the strength of the security of the state – three armoured cars and an army vehicle, surrounded my house,” Gaber said. “I said there must be another Osama bin Laden living in the same tower… I didn’t know I was that dangerous.”

    The student was kept in detention by National Security until December 2013, when he was granted an EGP 7,500 bail. Gaber told Daily News Egypt that during this time, he was subjected to severe abuse and electrocution from the security officials, who “punished every part of me”.

    Gaber, who has separated from his family and now lives alone in an apartment, said that he is looking for help in claiming emergency asylum in the next few weeks to avoid imprisonment in the retrial of his case. He also believes that, whilst he has not been suspended from the university, he is repeatedly being failed by his teachers.

    Former Suez Canal University President Mohamedein told Daily News Egypt that he “cannot remember the incident, a lot of things happened when I was there”. A spokesperson at the university was unavailable for comment.

    “The state of freedom of expression in Egyptian universities is very bad,” Fatma Serag, a lawyer working with Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) who provided support to Gaber, told Daily News Egypt.

    “Universities’ managements encourage students to report on their fellow students that have different political and ideological thoughts in order to take legal action against them and notify the national security agency and the police,” Serag continued. “This puts freedom of speech in a state of danger and puts restrictions on the academic freedom, especially for the teaching staff, muzzling their ability to teach and spread their thoughts”.

    Serag said: “I strongly condemn the ruling issued against Sherif Gaber, and I hope his innocence is granted by appeal.”

    Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution, passed after the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, states that “Islam is the religion of the State… the principles of Islamic Shari’a are the main source of legislation”. However, Article 64 maintains “freedom of religion is absolute”.

    Despite not being explicitly illegal, the Egyptian government and judicial system has recently upheld the role of religion in the country by using a set of three penal codes. These include charges of “contempt of heavenly religions”, desecrating religious symbols and mocking religious rites in public, and which can carry sentences of up to five years.

    In January, student Karim Al-Banna was given a three year prison sentence on charges of contempt of religion and insulting the divine. Al-Banna was accused of using his Facebook account to publish articles that “belittle the divine”, with his father supporting the case, collecting information to be used in the trial.

    Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Human Rights Watch’s MENA programme, said following the case of Al-Banna: “Atheists are one of Egypt’s least-protected minorities, although the constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of belief and expression… [the] Egyptian authorities need to be guided by the constitution and stop persecuting people for atheism.”

    The rights watchdog said that the sentence, one of several handed down on blasphemy charges in recent years, and “is part of a wider government push to combat atheism and other forms of dissent”.

  • Detention of student renewed for contempt of religion

    Suez Canal University student Sherif Gaber Abdel Azim was handed a renewed 15-day detention on Wednesday by the Third Circuit Ismailia Misdemeanours Court. Abdel Azim was arrested after being charged with contempt of religion and insulting messengers and prophets, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).

    An arrest warrant was issued for the student on 26 October and he was detained for four days pending investigations after standing before the public prosecution. He allegedly created a Facebook group called “atheists” and had been questioned by university administration in April following complaints filed by fellow students.

    Last year, blogger Alber Saber was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of “contempt of the Muslim and Christian religions” after prosecutors accused him of starting Facebook pages that offend both God and the Muslim and Christian religions. Alber, an open atheist, paid an EGP 1,000 bail and filed an appeal before leaving the country.

    Investigations and trials for contempt of religion have dramatically increased since 2011.

  • Suez Canal University criticised for not protecting professor

    Suez Canal University criticised for not protecting professor

    Fifteen political movements and feminist groups condemned on Wednesday the "savage campaign… and systematic disenfranchisement" of Mona Prince by Suez Canal University's administration. (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)
    Fifteen political movements and feminist groups condemned on Wednesday the “savage campaign… and systematic disenfranchisement” of Mona Prince by Suez Canal University’s administration.
    (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)

    Fifteen political movements and feminist groups condemned on Wednesday the “savage campaign… and systematic disenfranchisement” of Mona Prince by Suez Canal University’s administration.

    A professor at the university’s Faculty of Education, Prince was accused by her students of contempt of religion in April. She was accordingly referred to disciplinary investigation by the university administration.

    In a joint statement, the political movements and feminist groups criticised the university administration’s silence and lax attitude towards the matter, adding their approach to the problem reveal their bias for eliminating creativity and freedom of opinion.

    The movements and groups called on the Suez Canal University to reclaim its prime role in promoting discussion and debate and accepting differing opinions in order to contribute to the development of its students’ social and intellectual skills.

    “We are in full solidarity with Prince in her right to defend her unique style and important role in upgrading the students’ intellectual skills and limiting imitation,” the statement read. They also demanded that the university administration abandon its “blurry attitude” and return to objectivity and neutrality to preserve the sacredness of their message and regain their position.

    The statement was signed by the women’s and rights and freedoms’ committees in the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) as well as the Social Popular Alliance Party’s committee in Fayoum. A number of feminist groups also signed the statement, including Nazra for feminist studies, Fouada Watch, I Saw Harassment, and the New Woman Institution.

    A number of public figures also personally signed the statement, including human rights lawyer Ragia Omran, National Council for Women’s Complaints Department head Fatma Khafagy, and ESDP leading figures Ihab Al-Kharrat, Farid Zahran, Ahmed Fawzy and Hana Abul Ghar.

    This is not the first time Prince’s accusation was criticised. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression condemned the referral of Professor Prince to disciplinary investigation in late April.

    Prince teaches a course in conversation, and before her controversial class, she and her pupils had agreed to discuss sectarian strife in Egypt. Prince showed posters put up at the university by Salafi students that said “Shi’a are the enemy” and told her students that this was an example of sectarianism.

    Following the lecture, students submitted complaints accusing her of contempt of religion, and Prince said she had received death threats from some.

    On 16 April the Dean of the Faculty of Education called Prince and told her that she should not come to the university in case she could not be protected from students’ reactions.

    Prince denied the accusations made in the complaints, saying they stemmed from her discussion with students about sectarianism.

  • Rights groups condemn crackdown on university professor

    Rights groups condemn crackdown on university professor

    College professor Mona Prince is accused of being in contempt of religion (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)
    College professor Mona Prince is accused of being in contempt of religion
    (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)

    The persecution of university faculty members is unacceptable, said two human rights groups on Tuesday.

    The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) condemned the referral of Professor Mona Prince to disciplinary investigation and said that those working in the academic community should be afforded the protection to express views that may or may not be widely accepted.

    “The two organisations believe that the protection and promotion of academic freedom, and the protection of faculty members from any attempts to interfere or intellectual terrorism, is mainly the responsibility of the academic institution,” said the statement, issued on Tuesday. It called on academic institutions to create a safe environment for university faculty to freely express views, instead of cracking down on freedom of expression.

    The groups also called on Suez CanalUniversity to launch an initiative involving students and faculty, promoting and discussing the concepts of academic freedom and freedom of expression and the need for everyone to respect dissenting opinions.

    Prince was accused of contempt of religion by a number of her students after a lecture in early April. The complaints prompted an investigation.

    Prince teaches a course in conversation, and before her controversial class, she and her pupils had agreed to discuss sectarian strife in Egypt, a growing topic of interest following violence in Al-Khasous and at St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral.

    The class discussion revealed opposing views on the matter. Prince showed posters put up at the university by Salafi students that said, “Shi’a are the enemy” and told her students that this was an example of sectarianism.

    Following the lecture, students submitted complaints against her and Prince said she had received death threats from some.

    On 16 April the Dean of the Faculty of Education called Prince and told her that she should not come to the university in case she could not be protected from students’ reactions. Prince has since taken preventive legal action to show that she was asked not to come to the university and had received death threats.

    The first complaint accuses her of contempt against Islam as a result of statements made during her lecture. The second complaint was made over comments she allegedly wrote on Facebook criticising the dean, and the third complaint is for irregular attendance.

    Prince denied the accusations made in the complaints, saying they stemmed from her discussion with students about sectarian strife.

    Additional reporting by Hend Kortam

  • University professor accused of contempt of religion

    University professor accused of contempt of religion

    College professor Mona Prince is accused of being in contempt of religion (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)
    College professor Mona Prince is accused of being in contempt of religion
    (Photo Courtesy of Mona Prince)

    Students at Suez Canal University are accusing a professor in the university’s Faculty of Education of contempt of religion.

    After a lecture in early April, students accused college professor Mona Prince of contempt of religion. An investigator spent hours investigating her on Sunday based on a complaint filed against her.

    Ebada Khouly, the dean of the faculty, said the investigations began in response to complaints from a student and the head of the department the professor works in. The dean also said that Prince only shows up to teach once a week, saying she should show up four days a week.  “It was a set of violations,” he said.

    Prince teaches a course on conversation which does not have a pre-determined curriculum. She said she always agrees with her students on the topics they will be discussing ahead of the lectures. One thing Prince had determined was that the topics discussed during the course would be related to current events in Egypt.

    During a lecture in the first week of April, Prince and the students agreed that the topic would be about sectarian strife. They had agreed on the topic on a Facebook page that includes teachers and students.

    The topic was decided upon following the sectarian violence in Al-Khasous that left five people dead and spread to violence outside St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral the next day.

    “Is there racism and sectarianism in Egypt?” was the title of the lecture. Students expressed their different opinions on the matter. During the lecture, Prince said that some religious scholars incite strife. She pointed at a poster hung up on the walls of the college by Salafi students that says “Shi’a are the enemy”, citing the poster as an example of something that promotes sectarianism.

    After the lecture, the students wrote a complaint which several of them signed and handed it to the dean of the college. They also sent a copy of the complaint to the president of the university.

    The professor said she has received several death threats and demands by students to have her kicked out of college.

    Khouly said that the results of the investigations are yet to be announced but added that Prince will resume work normally and give her lecture on Tuesday.