Egypt: The coming persecution

Makram Diab, an Egyptian Coptic Christian, was sentenced to six years in prison by a court in the province of Assiut on charges of “insulting the Prophet.” But the trial took place with a crowd of two or three thousand Muslims outside the courthouse demanding the death penalty. Eyewitnesses said that many protesters were armed with knives, and that the police barely managed to prevent them from breaking into the courtroom and lynching the accused.

Diab’s lawyer, a Muslim called Ahmad Sayed Gabali, said he had never seen anything like it in 18 years of practicing law. “More than 80 Islamic lawyers representing the plaintiffs filled the courtroom. They locked the door from the inside, preventing the judge from leaving and preventing me from entering the courtroom to defend my client.”

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