CAIRO: Authorities on Saturday detained three Coptic activists accused of seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, a security source told AFP.
Waguih Yacoub, Victor George and Mamduh Azmi, who belong to the Middle East Christian Association (Meca), were taken separately from their homes and are yet to be formally charged, the source said.
Adel Fawzi, the Egyptian country director of Meca who was himself released on Nov. 4 after three months in jail, condemned the arrests.
The arrests “are part of the politics of punishment exercised by the state against people who defend the right of Copts, Fawzi told AFP by telephone.
Fawzi and Meca photographer Peter Ezzat, who were both accused of insulting Islam, were released this month after a court found that “nothing justifies continuing their detention.
Informal accusations against the two, who worked for a British-based website, included sedition, propagating extremist ideas through the internet and insulting religion.
A judicial source said at the time that the pair was arrested “for publishing articles and declarations that are damaging to Islam and insulting to Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) on the United Copts website.
Copts are estimated to form six to 10 percent of Egypt’s 76 million people and are the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
They frequently complain of discrimination and mistreatment, especially in cases of religious conversion.
