By Coptic Solidarity –
A carefully worded public appeal concerning prisoners’ religious rights has inadvertently highlighted what may be one of the least examined aspects of Egypt’s detention system: the apparent imprisonment of 106–107 Christian detainees in a single correctional facility on terrorism-related charges.
Addressed to officials of Egypt’s National Security Agency, the appeal by lawyer Said Fayez does not dispute the pending criminal proceedings. Instead, it makes a limited humanitarian request: that Christian prisoners held at Rehabilitation Prison No. 6 in the Tenth of Ramadan Correctional Complex be permitted to celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy and meet a priest for confession, rights recognized under Egypt’s prison regulations. According to the appeal, although a priest is assigned to the prison complex, these detainees have reportedly gone for months without either a Mass or pastoral visits.
The appeal states that the prison currently holds approximately 106 or 107 Christian detainees, all reportedly facing charges such as “joining a terrorist organization” and “spreading false news.” Some have reportedly been detained for only two months, others for a year, and some for even longer.
Beyond the question of access to religious services, the disclosure itself raises important questions. Why are more than one hundred Christian detainees being held in a single prison on similar terrorism-related charges? Are these individuals connected to the same investigation, or do they represent numerous unrelated cases? How many remain in prolonged pretrial detention, and how many have been convicted? The appeal provides no answers, but its figures point to an issue that deserves far greater public scrutiny.
Whatever the outcome of the individual cases, the apparent existence of more than one hundred Christian detainees in a single Egyptian prison is, in itself, a matter of considerable concern to the public, that warrants official clarification.
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