Al-Misrī al-Yawm commented on an article published by Associated Press (AP) entitled “Egyptian Christian dies in Libyan detention”about an Egyptian Copt suspected of proselytizing dies in prison. Ahramonline quoted AP’s article.

Below is the full text of the article as it was quoted on Ahramonline:

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official says a man suspected of trying to spread Christianity in Libya has died in prison there. 

The diplomat says Ezzat Atallah, who suffered from diabetes and heart ailments, likely died of natural causes. He spoke anonymously Sunday in line with regulations.

Atallah was among five Evangelical Christian Egyptians detained in Libya for allegedly proselytizing in the predominantly Muslim nation.

Last week, Egypt's Foreign Ministry intervened to win release from Libya of 55 Egyptians who were also suspected of proselytizing. Thirty-five of them were deported for illegally entering the country, while 20 were cleared to stay in Libya.

Also, four foreigners under investigation for alleged espionage and proselytizing remain in a Libyan prison. They are a Swedish-American, a South Korean, a South African and an Egyptian.

(Author not mentioned, Ahramonline, Mar. 11) Read original text in English.

Al-Misrī al-Yawm, from its part, contacted Najīb Jubrā’īl, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organization, who said that ‘Izzat ‘Atallah died out of torture. He added that he was one of five other Egyptian Christians who were accused of proselytizing and were tortured by the Libyan Preventive Security Unit without being referred to the prosecution. The spouse of the deceased called Jubrā’īl and said that the Libyan authority refused to do a medical examination on her husband’s body. A number of Copts and Coptic movements are staging a protest on Monday evening (Mar. 11, 2013) off the Embassy of Libya in Cairo, Egypt to condemn the killing of ‘Izzat (‘Imād Khalīl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Mar. 11, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.