E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 23 86. By letter dated 18 June 2004, the Government of Egypt responded, with regard to the arrest of Bolis Rezk-Allah, that in February 2003, an investigator at the Department of Civil Affairs received information indicating that Bolis Rezk-Allah and his wife Enas Yahya Abd al-Aziz Mahmud had used a fake identity card and birth certificate to contract their marriage. Bolis Farid Rezk-Allah was arrested on 25 February 2003 and released on bail but his name was added to a list of persons who are prohibited from traveling pending the completion of an investigation. The arrest warrant and travel ban imposed on this person were issued in accordance with the law, after sufficient evidence had been gathered to charge him with falsifying official documents. 87. Regarding the attack on the Coptic monastery, the Government explained that for compelling military reasons, any new wall or installation erected along the CairoSuez desert highway must be sited at a distance of 100 m from the edge of the highway. The Pietros Association violated the regulation by building walls and initiating construction work on land situated at a distance of less than 100 m from the Cairo-Suez desert highway. Given the sensitivity of the issue, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III was contacted and a meeting between him and two senior Ministry of Defence officials was arranged in order to find practical ways to deal with the violations committed by the Association. Thanks to the wisdom of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, an agreement was reached that the Ministry of Defence would construct alternative installations for the Association, at the Ministry's own expense and with the same specifications, along the Cairo-Suez desert highway. The Ministry of Defence is in the process of constructing the installations for the Association. 88. On 29 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur transmitted a communication to the Government of Egypt concerning four Coptic college students who were arrested in the southern Sinai region on 26 January 2004. The young men, aged between 19 and 20 years old, were reportedly on a recreational trip in the Sinai, carrying with them a small number of Christian books, Bibles, and Christian music tapes. The four were allegedly arrested and their property confiscated; at the time of the communication, they had allegedly remained imprisoned since their arrest. The four young men, arrested by Naweeba district police, are Peter Nady Kamel, Ishak Dawood Yessa, John Adel Fokha and Andrew Saeed. They have reportedly been charged with the creation of a group that poses a threat to national unity and social peace. 89. By letter dated 7 May 2004, the Government of Egypt responded that in January 2004, four persons (John Adel Fokha, Andrew Saeed, Peter Nady Kemel Baqtar and Ishak Dawood Yessa Laklha) were arrested in Naweeba, in the Governorate of Southern Sinai, under the terms of an arrest warrant issued by the Department of Public Prosecutions. These persons were charged with the following offences: forming a group for the purpose of undermining national unity; possession of publications and recordings aimed at achieving that purpose; exploiting religion and making false claims, by word and in writing, with a view to provoking social strife and threatening social peace. The Department decided to remand them in custody for 15 days, pending further investigations. Their period of remand in custody was extended several times. On 3 Apri12004, the Southern Sinai Department of Public Prosecutions decided to release them on bail.

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