In 1962, Nagui Ibrahim left his home and family and converted to Islam and his identity card was changed to indicate that he was officially a Muslim. At the time, his daughter, Shadia, was two years old. Three years later, he reconciled with his wife, moved home, and reconverted to Christianity. Unable to legally change his identity card back to say he was a Christian, Nagui had someone forge his documents.
In 1996, the forger was arrested and confessed that Nagui was one of those whom he forged documents for. Police detained Nagui and told him that he was still legally a Muslim. Since children in Egypt automatically take their father's religion, Shadia was also therefore officially a Muslim. Since she had given her religion as "Christian" when she married in 1982, the courts began proceedings against her. On November 21, 2007, she was sentenced to three years in prison for "providing false information on official documents."
"This is a prime example of the injustice of Egyptian law," says Glenn Penner, Chief Executive Officer of The Voice of the Martyrs. "Pray that the Egyptian authorities will reverse this unfair decision and that they will allow true freedom of religion in their country. Pray for others like Shadia who only want to be officially recognized for who they are but face imprisonment because of it."
For more information on the persecution of Christians in Egypt, go to the Egypt Country Report.
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