E/CN.4/1992/52 page 14 (b) The murder of Reverend Shenouda Hanna Awadh On 11 May 1990, unknown persons opened fire on a vehicle in which Reverend Shenouda Hanna Awadh, the pastor of Ra's al-Tur'a Church at Abul-Matameer, was travelling with other persons. All the passengers were killed. On 12 May 1990, the police arrested a farmer, Rajab Muhammad Awadh Muhammad, the brother of Hassan Muhammad Awadh who was killed in 1989 by the brother of one of the Christian passengers of the vehicle at which the shots were fired. During his interrogation, he confessed that order to avenge his brother's death. The weapon incident was also seized. The accused person is pending trial in Abul-Matameer criminal case No. he had committed the act in that had been used in the currently in detention 2085/1990. On 13 May 1990, during the funeral of Reverend Shenouda Hanna Awadh, some Christian agitators attempted to endow the incident with confessional implications with a view to disrupting public security. This necessitated intervention by the security authorities, who arrested them and referred them to the Department of Public Prosecutions which ordered their detention (on a charge of riotous assembly in Bab Sharq adminstrative case No. 2861/90) for a period of 15 days, which the Department of Public Prosecutions subsequently renewed for a further period of 15 days in order to complete the investigation procedures which eventually led to their release in July 1990. It should be noted that national unity between the country's two religious communities has always constituted one of the sacrosanct pillars of Egyptian society and the Egyptian authorities take action against any person who attempts to prejudice this unity, regardless of his religion or belief." 29. In a communication sent on 15 May 1991 addressed to the Government of Egypt, the following information was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur under annex I: "According to the information received, three Egyptian citizens of Christian faith who had converted from Islam, Mustafa Mohammad Said al-Sharqawi (aged 3 0 ) , Mohammad Hussein Mohammad Ibrahim Sallam (aged 25) and Hassan Mohammad Isma'il Mohammad (aged 2 1 ) , are currently detained on charges of, inter alia. 'Contempt of Islam' and 'Threatening the Unity of the Country', which may entail prison sentences of three and five years respectively. It has been reported that Mustafa Mohammad Said al-Sharqawi and Mohammad Hussein Mohammad Ibrahim Sallam were arrested on the night of 28 September 1990, while Hassan Mohammad Isma'il Mohammad was arrested on 9 October 1990. It has been alleged that Mr. al-Sharqawi is detained at Abu Za'abal Industrial Prison while Mr. Sallam and Mr. Mohammad were initially said to have been detained at the State Security Intelligence Police (SSIP) detention centre in Heliopolis and subsequently transferred to Abu Za'abal prison. It has been reported that these persons were also imprisoned for several months at the beginning of 1990.