Story number 3 for 9 Aug 2000

An unusually harsh sentence is handed down for what Egyptian’s call “insulting Islam”. The court has sentenced a Coptic Christian to three years of hard labor in prison after convicting him on charges of insulting the Muslim religion. This is the first time in the history of their court system that an extremely harsh judgment was awarded for such a minor charge, said one observer. A court appeals hearing on the case has been scheduled for this week. Sourial Gayed Isshak has been in prison since early March due to the slander allegations.