Monday, February 01, 2010

Attention to:

His Excellency Ambassador Shamel Naser,
Embassy of Egypt,
454, Laurier Avenue East
Ottawa,  Ontario, K1N6R3
Canada.

Your Excellency,

I was shocked to read your  absurd letter to the Reverend Father Marcos Marcos  the protopriest of St. Mark Church of Toronto.

The letter warns the reverend father of dire consequences  if he joins the protest demonstration organized by the Copts in response to the savage assault on the Copts leaving the midnight Christmas mass on the sixth of January 2010. 

What was so appalling about your letter is that you as a diplomat ignored several fundamental protocols.

1 -You have by-passed the Canadian government in your effort to contact a Canadian citizen when you should have done that through the offices of His Excellency the Minister of Foreign affairs the Honorable Lawrence Cannon, or by litigating your grievance through the court system if the situation warrants that.

2 – The letter was nothing but threats and intimidation which constitutes a crime of blackmailing in civilized countries like Canada.

Granted your status as a diplomat shields you from the consequences of such a criminal act however I would like to remind you that the diplomatic status privilege is intended to foster goodwill between the two countries. It is not a license to go on a spree of criminal activities and does not accord to you the right to bypass the proper channels or to threaten Canadian citizens.

I trust that in the future you will be more meticulous in enjoying the privilege rather than abusing it. Abusing the privilege my force our country to request a replacement from the government of Egypt, which is virtually the diplomatic version of expulsion.

The Egyptian Government has taken a course of benign neglect towards the crimes of the Moslem Brotherhoods towards the Copts in Egypt. Over the last ten years there have been a multitude of attacks and violations of the Copts where there was not one single guilty prosecuted or convicted. Minor girls are being kidnapped, raped and under the threat of the scandal they are forced to marry the criminals who raped them and the Government of Egypt could not find one single one of them.

This deliberate negligence by the government is not welcomed by the Copts abroad and unless the Egyptian Government changes its attitude towards this travesty the position of the Copts abroad will harden and will push for the expulsion of Egypt from the leagues of nations the pledged to respect human rights and the rule of law.

G. R Scharoubim.

A trustee of the North American Coptic Association

CC: His excellency the Honorable Lawrence Cannon.