BY BEN KERRIGAN
Strong questions are facing the Egyptian army over allegations of the murder of Christian soldiers routinely disguised as ‘suicide’. The eye of media.com has learned.
We were contacted by two friends of the recent victim, who found us by chance through our internet radio. One of them told The eye of media via phone after an initial email correspondence with them, that their efforts to publicize the level of persecution facing Christians in the Egyptian army was scary. Opting for anonymity, one of the friends said
” for some reason not many of the mainstream media around the world cover some of the atrocities claimed to going on in the Egyptian army. This is not the first time there have been complaints of killings being faked and presented to be suicide. We have heard of evidence of torture on the bodies of dead soldiers who are then said to have killed themselves. This is becoming very worrying. Connecting us to the brother of dead Gamal by phone, the whole story began to unfold:
NO ACCESS TO FIREARMS
Osama Jamal told The eye of media.com “Michael never had any firearms to kill himself because he was never issued with any. He was support personnel. He couldn’t have had access to a weapon to allegedly shoot himself with”.
When we last talked over the phone, Michael was in good spirits. He was jesting and joking. He had a couple of months to go before his service was over. When I called the next day, Michael, unusually, didn’t respond.” Later that night, a fellow soldier made a call from Michael’s phone and told us my brother was seriously injured. I couldn’t believe it!”
His subsequent rush to Shebeen el-Kom (76 km north of Cairo), where Michael was posted was to be met with even more bad news. Military police there informed them that their son ‘had committed suicide’.
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LIES
An initial coroner report stated the cause of death as a ‘gunshot to the upper chest from close range’. The body bore trauma marks to the forehead and right temple, they said. Osama’s fury is tangibly fierce and borne from his strong suspicions of foul play which he claims to deduce from lies told to him by the military police.
“Three members from the military police asked us who last called [Michael] Gamal. They claimed we argued with him on the phone. This is false, flat out false! They said that he shot himself after he finished his call with us!” Why will he do that?It makes no sense!
“There were no hospital admission papers, despite the claim that Michael had still been alive when brought to the hospital. Later, a lieutenant from Michael’s unit, Lt. Mohamed Medhat, tried to persuade us to immediately bury the body. He even offered to fly the body on a military chopper and speed up all the necessary paper work,”
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Egyptian
According to Osama, no investigation took place, before the body left the hospital, and the military authorities were ready with a written report stating Michael ‘had shot himself dead’.
Last year, Bahaa Gawal Mikhaul Silvanus was alleged to have committed suicide despite two gun wounds found on his head and bruises on his arms that suggested torture, The eye of media.com was also told. His friends and family claimed the former soldier told them prior to his death that he had been subjected to enormous pressure by fanatical Muslim soldiers to convert to Islam, but had refused to do so. He subsequently claimed to have been subjected to threats of he did not succumb to the pressure.
OPTIMISTIC
Silvanus was said to be an optimistic individual who was a dedicated
follower of his faith. Family and friends believed he had no reason to kill himself and was not depressed about anything. If it be true that christian soldiers in Egypt are being secretly killed and covered up, then this is a dangerous and reprehensible situation that needs to be addressed by the Egyptian government.
It also raises questions as to why Christians in Egypt enlist themselves to the army if they are aware of the allegations of murder there. With all due respect to the dead soldiers and their families, it simply isn’t wise for christians to join the army there if they are aware that the soldiers there want a 100% muslim squad.
RELIGIOUS FANATICISM
Unfortunately, we live in an age where religious fanaticism is wide spread, particularly in some muslim countries, perhaps christians there should know their limits and restrict their operations in certain domains. However, the allegations of covered up murders of Christians in the Egyptian army is worrying, and should be addressed by the government who are expected to respect the principles of religious tolerance and freedom of opinion.
The eye of media.com have yesterday contacted the Egyptian government and The Egyptian army for a response that Christian soldiers who refuse to convert to Islam are being murdered without punishment. We hope to get that response after the Easter break at the latest.
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