Family gets 15-year sentence for converting to Christianity

Egypt, March 18, 2013 (VNN) via Fox News

An Egyptian court has sentenced a woman and her seven children to 15 years in prison after she decided to convert to Christianity. Human rights activists are alarmed by the situation.
Nadia Mohamed Ali was raised a Christian, but then she turned to Islam after she married Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab Mustafa, who later died. After his death Nadia decided to convert to Christianity in order to get an inheritance from her family. The action took place more than six years ago, but under the new government and new constitution based on Sharia law, she and her children were sentenced to prison.

Conversions from Islam to Christianity were quite common in the past, but Nadia’s case is just the beginning of Christians’ oppression, Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at Hudson Institute’s Center, says.

The Constitution in force was adopted due to the efforts of Mohamed Morsi, who became the President of Egypt last June. It stipulates that “religious freedom has to be understood within the boundaries of Sharia”. Morsi has been widely criticized for his inability to take any actions against increasing oppression of Christians in Egypt.

Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice thinks that the above-mentioned case shows us once again an increase in religious intolerance in the Muslim world. He also adds that the US Government should not remain idle, but do whatever it can to solve the issue.