Egypt: Two Children Detained for Blasphemy  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Two Coptic children, aged nine and 10 years, are being detained in Egypt, for allegedly tearing up pages from the Holy Quran and urinating on them. The incident happened in a village in Beni Suef, in Upper Egypt, and the complaint against the children was filed by a Salafi clergyman.
According to the Egyptian Penal Code, insulting Islam is considered as a crime in Egypt and the children are being held on blasphemy charges. On Twitter, netizens react to the development today.
Tamer Mowafy is not pleased with the news [ar]:
شعورك يبقى إزاي لما تصحي الصبح علي خبر احتجاز طفلين بعيد عن أهلهم في إنتظار العرض علي النيابة عشان حمار إتهمهم بتمزيق كتاب؟؟
A Coptic symbol from a church in Cairo. Photo shared by kudumomo on Flickr used under CC BY 2.0
@kalimakhus: How would you feel if you wake up in the morning to the news of two children detained, away from their parents, waiting to be presented to the Public Prosecutor because a donkey accused them of tearing up a book?
Karim Masoud responds:
طالما البنت بتتجوز و هي عندها 9 سنين طبيعي جدا ان الطفل يتهم بازدراء الأديان و هو عنده 9 سنين و 11 سنه
@K_Masoud: As long as a girl is allowed to get married at the age of nine, then it is normal to accuse children aged nine and 11 with blasphemy.
And Amr Ezzat is lost for words:
مش عارف أقول إيه .. طفلين 9 و 11 سنة في بني سويف اتحبسوا واتحولوا لمحاكمة بتهمة تمزيق مصحف ! هبل محاكمات ازدراء الأديان بلا نهاية
@AmrEzzat: I don't know what to say. Two children, aged nine and 11 years, from Beni Suef are detained and will be transferred to court accused of tearing up the Quran! The ridiculousness of blasphemy cases continues
Meanwhile, Ishak Ibrahim notes:
تزايدت قضايا ازدراء الأديان بصورة كبيرة جدا يظهر أن هناك من يريد أن يخلق قضايا تشغل الناس بدلا عن البحث عن حقوقهم والمطالبة بها
@ishakassaad: Blasphemy cases are on the increase. There seems to be some who want to create problems to keep people busy from demanding their rights
He adds:
تيار الإسلام السياسي لا يملك ما يقدمه للمصريين في مجال تحقيق العدالة الاجتماعية ولذلك يسعي لخلق قضايا تشغل المواطنين وتبعدهم عن نقد أدائهم
@ishakassaad: Political Islam doesn't have what to give Egyptians in terms of achieving social justice. This is why it is trying to stir up trouble to keep citizens busy and away from criticising their performance.
Demagh MAK sends a message to the Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who is a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He tweets:
#مرسي‬‏ لو ما اصدرشي حالا قرار بالافراج عن طفلين بني سويف المتهمين بازدراء الاديان يبقى احنا كده عرفنا مين الشراميط الانجاس
@demaghmak: If Morsi doesn't immediately issue a decision to release the two children from Beni Suef accused of blasphemy, we will know who are the unclean prostitutes.
The two children will appear in front of the public prosecutor on Sunday.