05/24/2022 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Egypt’s Christians faced increased levels of persecution during the religious seasons of Easter and Ramadan. The man who killed Coptic Priest Arsanious Wadid was sentenced to death on May 18. Just a few days prior, the man who shot and killed Rani Raafat recently took to social media to brag about his actions.
Father Wadid was stabbed on an Alexandrian street on April 7. Wadid’s killer, Nehru Abdel-Moneim Tawfiq, was immediately apprehended and turned over to a psychiatric hospital because of speculations about his mental health. It was later determined that the man had previously been a member of an extremist group. The courts deemed him guilty of voluntary homicide and a psychological assessment deemed him “responsible for his actions”. Nehru’s case was referred to the Mufti for approval. A court date has been set for June 11.
In another violent incident against Christians, Rani Raafat was shot 22 times and killed in late April by four unidentified masked men. Faisal Abdul Nasser posted a video on May 13 where he claimed to be one of the killers. Nasser commented that he was motivated, not because he personally knew the Christian man, but because he was “loyal to Allah”. A transcript of the video by Coptic Solidarity reports that the killer said, “I am delighted that I killed him”. He continued, “I am zealous over and sacrifice for Islam. I have no problem surrendering myself [to the police]. This is a state issue: It is not permissible for a Christian who associates others with Allah to be involved with a Muslim woman. No one incited me to do this, only my heart—because I am loyal to Allah.”
As of two days after the video’s release, Nasser had yet to be arrested by the police. Authorities have reportedly been investigating the incident for several weeks without any success.
