Coptic Orthodox demand end to Muslim persecution in Egypt

An Egyptian in Australia lives in fear of a backlash against his family because of his conversion from Islam to Christianity. "Mina", 36, is afraid for the safety of his family in Australia and in Egypt, for defying the police and fleeing the country after he converted to the Coptic Orthodox Church. He had been arrested and beaten numerous times, according to media reports.

His lawyer Jimmy Morcos said that after one arrest, "Mina" was thrown in a room with Islamic radical prisoners who were encouraged to beat him.

Mina is one of 70,000 Coptic Orthodox Christians who have fled persecution in Egypt and resettled in Australia since 1971, according to Coptic Orthodox Bishop Suriel.

Mina was one of 12,000 who marched on the Egyptian consulate in Melbourne to protest over the killing of six Coptic Orthodox Christians in a drive-by shooting in Egypt last month during the Coptic observance of the birth of Jesus.

In a protest that was orderly and resembling a religious procession rather than a raucous protest, Copts bore signs on their march reading ''Bloodshed is Not What I Wanted for Christmas,'' in reference to the January 7 drive-by shooting of six Coptics as they left church after celebrating Coptic Christmas Eve.

Other placards said ''Thousands slaughtered. No Convictions'', ''Egyptian Government Take A Stance'' and ''Enough'', referring to other deaths -  including 21 Coptics killed at El-Kosheh when Muslims extremists went on a New Year's weekend rampage in 2000, looting and destroying 260 homes.

They were also highlighting their claim that the Egyptian Government has failed to prevent sectarian attacks by Muslim extremists. In 2009, a Coptic monastery was attacked and damaged by a firebomb wielded by Muslims.

The protest called on the Australian Government to break its silence on the attacks on Copts in Egypt, which has drawn wide condemnation round the world, including from the Pope.

For the past two years, ''Mina'' has regularly phoned his mother in Egypt. But the 36-year-old is so scared for the safety of his family in Australia and in Egypt that he has let her believe he is in the United States.

It is a fiction devised out of fear that Egypt's security police will track him down or persecute his family in Egypt in retaliation for defying them and fleeing the country.

What brought Mina to their attention was his conversion at age 21 to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which meant turning his back on Islam, the dominant, state-sanctioned religion.

The killings in January 2010 are the latest in a catalogue of attacks on Copts in Egypt dating back more than a decade. Even now, the climate of fear is so strong that Mina refuses to publicly reveal his real name for fear of repercussions.

Australia granted Mina a humanitarian visa in 2003 but Egyptian authorities seized his passport and stopped him from leaving the country six times.

He said he was eventually taken to a prison. ''I saw a person with a blindfold over his eyes and he was hit and there was shouting and he was as taken to a dark place,'' he said.

Mina said he was told this would happen to him if he did not recant, and that leaving Islam was ''a big crime''. He had to report to the security officials every week to rethink his stance.

In 2007, a way was found to get him to Australia to rejoin his wife and children who had left ahead of him. Attorney Morcos said that international pressure is needed to be brought on Egypt to guarantee the human rights of Copts, who make up 18 per cent of Egypt's population. Egypt is one of the few countries in the world with a signfiicant minority of Christians still living in a largely Muslim country.