‘Christian Returnees’ issue injunction against interior ministry
By Essam Fadl
9/28/2010 Egypt (Daily News Egypt) – A group of Christians who converted to Islam and then back to Christianity issued an injunction against both the Minister of Interior and the head of the Civil Status Organization for not implementing a court order that allows them to be identified as Christians on their ID cards.
The group, dubbed the “Christian Returnees,” is paving the way for a lawsuit demanding that both officials be removed from the posts and arrested.
Over 2000 members of the group had filed a lawsuit demanding that their religious affiliation be changed on their national ID cards and provided documents proving their conversion back to Christianity.
The Administrative Court had ruled in favor of some of them, while the rest still await a ruling.
On the other hand, a group of Islamist lawyers filed a counter lawsuit questioning the court ruling; saying the article the court based its ruling on is unconstitutional.
The lawsuits were then transferred to the Supreme Constitutional Court whose initial commissioners’ report supported Christians’ right to change their religious affiliation.
The Returnees’ lawyers said that although the Supreme Constitutional Court is still looking into the counter lawsuits, that does not cancel the original ruling.
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