The Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the arrest of Islamic preacher Wajdī Ghunaym on charges disdaining Christianity after the hard-line preacher slandered and insulted the deceased pope.

The prosecution also ordered barring Ghunaym from traveling outside Egypt.

Counselor Mahdī Shu’ayb, under the supervision of Counselor Hishām Badawī, First Attorney-General for the Supreme State Security Prosecution, had heard Coptic lawyer Najīb Jibrā’īl, who filed the report, on Thursday (March 29).

“Wajdī Ghunaym seeks stirring fitnah tā’ifīyah between Muslims and Christians after he commented on the death of Pope Shenouda on websites with words that pose a threat to public security and order,” Jibrā’īl said in his report. [Hātim al-Jahmī, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, April 1, p. 1] Read text in Arabic