Posted on 20^th August 2010

Greetings in the name of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life

In November 2009 we requested prayer for Hani, a believer from a Christian background (BCB), who has been in prison unjustly since October 2008.

We are pleased to report that he was released on 22^nd July. He is living with Church leaders, is in daily contact with his family and has applied to be reinstated to his job.

Recall that he had been accused of insulting Islam after local teenagers visited his blog and accessed other sites through links on his blog. He invited members of his town, both Christians and Muslims, to review the site with him. None of these considered anything on the blog site itself to be offensive or inappropriate. However, he was summoned to attend an interview with State Security Investigations (SSI) officials. In prison, our brother was pressed to convert to Islam.

It is understood that no formal charges were ever made against him. Hani’s lawyers submitted repeated appeals to the authorities requesting his release. On several occasions a court ruled in his favour and he was released only to be immediately re-arrested by SSI officers and taken to a different prison.

Egyptian Christians thank us for our prayers and request our continued intercession, asking that:

a.      Hani will know the peace and presence of Jesus each day

b.      He will be re-appointed to his job as a school counsellor

c.       The purposes of God would continue to be fulfilled through the life of this brother

d.      All officials involved will show mercy and act justly, and will consider the claims of Jesus and respond to His offer of forgiveness, acceptance and true life

Open sources used: ANHRI, Compass Direct

May be circulated to general mailing lists and quoted from freely citing "Middle East Concern" as the source of the information.