Leila Attia Isaac, a Coptic Church lawyer, filed an appeal on Tuesday to the Supreme Administrative Court to challenge the verdict obliging the Church to allow the remarriage of Hani Wasfi Demian, a Coptic Christian.
The Church said that it did not refuse to grant Demian the permission, but its council asked to see his fiancée, which was a mere preliminary procedure and not an administrative decision that may be challenged. Also, the council is a religious authority that gives opinions in accordance with the provisions of the Bible, which renders the State Council incompetent to review the case.
The verdict said the Church has an administrative role in managing the affairs of the Coptic citizens, which places its decisions under the supervision of the law.
It also said that although the council did not refuse to allow a second marriage, it requested seeing the fiancée as a condition, without a proper legal basis.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
