Coptic priest jailed for marrying ex-Muslim woman to Christian man

Father Metta'os Wahba, an Egyptian Coptic Christian priest, has been convicted of marrying a Muslim woman to a Christian man and sentenced to five years with hard labour. The woman was raised Muslim but converted to Christianity as an adult. Egypt does not recognise conversions from Islam to Christianity so, in the eyes of the law, she was still Muslim.

Egypt's constitution pays lip service to freedom of religion but, in actuality, only Muslims enjoy this freedom.

This verdict against a priest is the first in the history of the Church and the first in the history of justice in Egypt, The verdict holds him guilty of marrying a Muslim girl to a Christian man. Criminal law specialists see it as a flagrant miscarriage of justice based on wrong conclusions reached by depending only on investigations carried out by a police officer. Human Rights activists see this verdict as an attack against Freedom of Religion which is guaranteed by Article 46 of the Egyptian Constitution and against the Human Rights declarations and treaties to which Egypt is a signatory. Freedom of Religion in Egypt is still a one-sided freedom," Islam", as no one dares to announce his conversion to Christianity, while the contrary is allowed and cheered. The attorney representing the priest, Dr. Naguib Gibraeel, President of the "Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization", has presented his appeal against this unjust verdict. Meanwhile, Father Metta'os is serving his sentence in a high security prison, while the newly weds have left the country for fear of death.

On 12th October 2008, Giza criminal court, Cairo sentenced Fr. Metta'os Wahba, a Coptic priest to 5 years imprisonment with 'forced labour' for "forging official document". Fr. Metta'os Wahba had earlier, conducted the marriage of a Christian man to a woman who converted from Islam. The priest believed, since he had no way of knowing that the documents presented to him were forged, that the girl was a Christian.

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