|
Cairo:
(AINA) Two weeks after the murder of two Christian
brothers by Muslims during the violence that swept the
upper Egyptian village of elGhorayzat, the family of the
murdered Christians has temporarily come out of hiding
to speak of the terror they have been subjected to and
decry the impunity enjoyed by the killers, who are
walking freely in the village.
On November 28, the two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer
Abraham (55) and Camille Tamer Abraham (50), were killed
in revenge for the death of the Muslim Mohamad
Abdel-Nazeer, who was injured during an altercation with
a village Christian over the building of a fence round
the Christian's house, and who later died in hospital.
The Christian man fled from the village with his family.
Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, the brother of the dead Muslim,
and a mob of Muslims, vowed to avenge his death from all
village Copts. They went on a rampage, looting and
burning Christian owned homes and businesses, and
resulted in the murder of the two brothers and injury to
several other Christians not involved in the altercation
(AINA 11-30-2011).
Karam Tamer Abraham, the brother of Kamel and Camille,
said that his two murdered brothers were killed in lieu
of the life of the Muslim, explaining that the Muslims
asked for the lives of his two brothers because they are
"the Christian elders of the village." He said that the
family is in no way related to and does not even know
the Christian involved in the death of the Muslim.
The Tamer Abraham family refused any "reconciliation"
with the murderers, and insisted that the rule of law
should prevail. "We will get our rights by law, and we
will never accept reconciliation, whatever the
consequences. We are not in a jungle." He said that all
this happened to the family because they are Christians.
According to Karam, after the murders, Muslims looted
three flats in the family house, and their shop, "while
the security forces stood there watching."
The three men who participated in the killings,
according to eyewitnesses, were Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer,
Sabry Mohammad el-Sayed and a third man unknown to them.
"Reconciliation" sessions are usually arranged by the
Egyptian security authorities, after every violence
against Christians, and result in Christians being
pressured to give up their rights.
Currently the entire Abraham family are on the run,
after having received death threats from the son of the
dead Muslim, Mohammad Abdul-Nazeer, who demands that all
four family children also have to be killed.
Speaking on CTV Coptic Chanel, Mrs. Hiyam Fakhry, wife
of Camille Tamer Abraham, describing her ordeal and how
she and her children watched her husband had his throat
slit by Muslims "with indescribable cruelty" and for no
reason.
Recounting the events of the massacre, Hiyam said that
after the Muslims caused violence and destruction in the
village, Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer and nearly all Muslims in
the village walked over two miles to their home. They
knocked at the door of the family's multi-story house,
and when her husband asked them from their balcony, what
they wanted. They answered him "Come down with your
brother, we want to slit your throats," said Hiyam.
Moments later Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer and the Muslims broke
down the door. They first went into the flat of the
55-year-old childless brother Kamel, and slit his throat
with a large knife as he sat on his bed watching TV.
They injured his wife Wafaa, took her gold bracelets and
50,000 Egyptian pounds in cash.
According to Hiyam, the Muslim mob the ascended to the
second floor, where they gave her husband and
18-year-old son, Mina, blows to their heads, before
tying her husband's hands with a rope and dragging him
to a room. "Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer, slit my husband's
throat," said said Hiyam. "He was about to leave him,
believing he was dead, when one of the other
perpetrators noticed that Camille was still breathing,
and told him to go back and finish him completely off
and let his blood spill all over the floor. So he slit
Camille's throat another time" (video of the murdered
Copts. WARNING! contains highly graphic content).
All the while their 4-year old son Michael was asleep on
the bed. He woke up and saw his father lying in his
blood and started calling to him and asking him to wake
up. "When my child cried, Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer said 'get
that child and let's slaughter him over his father', but
I screamed and begged them until they let him off."
Hiyam recalled that when Abdul-Nazeer told her husband
he has to be slaughtered, she asked him why , as he has
done nothing wrong. "He answered me, haughtily and
mercilessly, saying 'he has to be slaughtered today,
that means he has to be slaughtered today.'"
Mahmoud Abdul-Nazeer has not been arrested, a fortnight
after the murder and is present in the village,
according to eyewitnesses. Although a warrant was issued
for his arrest, the police said he is on the run. This
was disputed by Hiyam, who said that he is in the
village and he buried his brother the next day and for
two days he was bragged in front of his home that he
slaughtered two Copts.
She called on the Minister of Interior and other
officials to arrest the killer. "He slaughtered innocent
people who in their homes and should stand trial."
The Christian family was told that security forces do
not want to arrest him, in order to pressure them to
relinquish their rights against the killer and thereby
spoil any court case against him. "They do not want to
arrest him as this will lead to Muslim violence in the
village, as his crime carries the death penalty," said
Hiyam. "Because they are scared of Muslim violence, the
authorities want us to lose the rights of our dead."
|