E/CN.4/1992/52 page 13 gun-fire, subsequently arresting and detaining 23 participants in the procession. It is further alleged that the 23 persons were tortured while in detention." 28. On 27 May 1991, the Government of Egypt sent its comments to the Special Rapporteur regarding the two above-mentioned communications: "An investigation conducted by the competent authorities has led to the following conclusions: With regard to the allegations made, the principal points of which relate to the apostasy of Nahid Muhammad Metwalli, the questioning of suspects in a case involving the defamation and disparagement of divinely-revealed religions and the incident in which the Reverend Shenouda Hanna Awadh was murdered, the following has been ascertained: (a) The apostasy of Nahid Muhammad Metwalli (and the allegation that she was probably murdered) The Egyptian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and belief while, at the same time, designating as a criminal offence any disparagement of a divinely-revealed religion, even by one of its former adherents. Nahid Muhammad Metwalli (a teacher) had produced a tape recording, concerning her conversion to Christianity and her apostasy from Islam, in which she disparaged Islam and criticized the Holy Quran. In view of the danger that the content of the tape recording could cause a deterioration in intercommunal relations that might threaten the country's stability and security, the Department of State Security Prosecutions issued a warrant for the arrest of the above-mentioned person for questioning in State security case No. 587/89 and she is still a fugitive from justice. Some other Christian teachers from the same school in which Nahid Muhammad Metwalli was teaching circulated the tape recording that she had produced in a manner that showed contempt for the Islamic religion. The teachers concerned were Maurice Ramzi, Laurice Aziz, Eugénie Ya'qoub and Salwa Ramzi. The Department of State Security Prosecutions questioned the above-mentioned teachers in State security case No. 587/89, in which they were charged with the offence of exploiting religion to promote extremist ideology with a view to instigating sedition and expressing scorn and contempt for a divinely-revealed religion, namely the Islamic religion, and its adherents in a manner prejudicial to national unity and social harmony. It should be noted that the allegation referred to in the letter from the Centre for Human Rights is purely hypothetical and such hypotheses should be avoided, particularly in a report issued by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights.