Free Father Mattaos!

Coptic (Egyptian Christian) priest is unjustly tried and imprisoned in Egypt

LOS ANGELES, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released
today by Christian Copts of California:

Father Mattaos Wahba is the priest of Archangel Michael Church at Kerdasa,
Geza, Egypt. He is a pious man of God who encourages his congregation with
Jesus' message of loving one's enemy, blessing those who curse you, doing good
to those who hate you, and praying for those who despitefully use and
persecute you. (Mathew 5:44) Fr. Mattaos is a model Egyptian citizen that has
not ever committed a crime or seen the inside of a prison other than in the
context of ministering to inmates.

Recently Father Mattaos' life abruptly changed overnight. He was arrested,
charged and tried for aiding a young Muslim woman in getting an ID card that
had falsified data indicating her religion as Christian rather than Muslim.
The ID card was said to enable her to marry a Christian man and to flee the
country. On October, 2008, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 5
years of hard labor.

However, the facts dictate entirely a different story. The young woman, named
Reham Abdel Aziz Rady, was born to a Muslim family. She converted to
Christianity and underwent unbearable degrees of torturous harassments from
her family and Egypt's Secret Police. She was subsequently released from
custody without an ID card. Such prevents her rightful privileges of
citizenship. She cannot get employment, rent living quarters, apply for a
passport, much less apply for a marriage license. Even if she still possessed
her old Muslim ID, it would prevent her from marrying a Christian. There is
no legal way to change the religion of a Muslim on an ID card.

In 2004, a well-intentioned person attempted to help her. They allowed Reham
to use an ID card belonging to a recently deceased young Christian woman of
approximately the same age, named Mariam Nabil. Two years later, Reham, now
called Mariam, and a Christian man fell in love and decided to marry. The
couple contacted Fr. Mattaos to conduct the marriage ceremonies. The priest
knew nothing of the false ID and Mariam's former Muslim background. In good
faith he conducted the ceremony and the newly wed couple fled the country.

On April 24, 2009, Mariam appeared with Brother Rasheed on the popular Arabic
Al Hayat TV program "A Daring Question". She testified, "Father Mattaos did
not have any role in getting my ID card. I did not know him then, as this
took place in 2004 and I got married in 2006." Mariam added, "I have the right
to have an ID card that reflects my true religious affiliation. The Egyptian
government does not give Muslims who convert to Christianity a legal
alternative to get these papers. Had I been a Christian who wanted to convert
to Islam, I would have had all the help I needed. But, because I am leaving
Islam they put hurdles in my way."

Father Mattaos did not commit a crime. He does not deserve to be imprisoned.
He is paying a price of Egypt's present-day policy of denying religious
freedom. Ironically, their policy is against the Egyptian constitution and
standard human rights laws to which Egypt is a signatory. Make no mistake
about it. Father Mattaos' imprisonment is designed to send a message to
Coptic Egyptian priests and Protestant pastors: The Egyptian government will
deal harshly with any clergyman who is suspected in aiding Muslims converting
to Christianity.

We call upon officials in the US State Department; Human Rights organizations;
the global community of Christian believers; and all freedom loving people to
join us in our outcry. We urge you to contact the Egyptian Embassy demanding
the immediate release of Father Mattaos. Insist in strong tones that every
Egyptian citizen be granted the basic human right to follow the religion of
his/her choice.

EMBASSY OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT
3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC 20008
TEL: 202.895.5400 FAX: 202.244.4319
E-mail: Embassy@egyptembassy.net

SOURCE Christian Copts of California

Mounir Bishay of Christian Copts of California, +1-310-641-3387,
Calcopts@sbcglobal.net