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The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said ,today, that some Christian  lawyers have joined the neo actio popularis team in Egypt and demanded a five year imprisonment for Youssef Zeidan, author of the novel Azazel,  claiming he has defamed the Christian religion  according to article # 98 of the Egyptian penal code.
Some lawyers and Coptic organizations abroad have issued a statement inciting against the writer and history researcher, Youssef Zeidan,  author of the novel Azazel, which ranked  among the top Arabic literary works in recent years. Following , they filed a series of communiqués  demanding the  prosecutor general to try Zeidan  for contempt of Christian religion and verbal abuse of Copts.
The communiqué submitted against the author of Azazel is no surprise , but is expected indeed, in view of the attack launched by many radical Christians against the novel and its author since its publication and the success it achieved. The infuriating irony is that the complainants allegedly consider themselves human rights defenders authors while they are publicity seekers and pro seizing.  They have previously demanded banning of the movie “I love cinema,” a few years ago. Moreover, one of them accused  Youssef Zeidan of being a racist!.

Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said, “We are warning of  religious and political Hesba cases. We also alert of guardians of religion, either  driven by miscomprehension or by publicity seeking. The likes of Hesba cases  are lethal to the Egyptian culture and freedom of expression. It is a shame that the Egyptian government takes a false impartial stance of those cases”.

Gamal Eid added, “Pope Shenouda III, has got to take a clear  position from those fawning to him ,claiming they have filed those  communiqués as lawyers of the Egyptian church. We  would really wish that the church would rise above pursuing a creative writer due to such allegations promoted by extremists seeking publicity at the expense of freedom of creation”.

Related Links:
In defense of freedom of thought and creativity in solidarity with the film “I love cinema”

Interviewing one of the claimants, describing Zeidan as a racist

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