CAIRO // An Egyptian court convicted 11 people, including two US citizens, of forgery and human trafficking yesterday for their involvement in a high-profile illegal adoption case.
Miram Ragab, Gamil Gadala and Ashraf Hassan Mustafa were sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh67,000) for helping three American couples illegally adopt Egyptian infants.
Two of the couples were given the same fine as well as two years in prison for forging identity documents for the children in an attempt to take them back to the United States. One of the three couples was convicted in absentia because they have already returned to the United States.
Except for them, all those convicted have been held in detention since their arrest late last year and will be eligible for a reduction in their sentencing based on time-served.
Iris Botros, 40, an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian, and her husband Louis Andros, a Greek-American restaurateur, travelled to Egypt in October 2008 on a tip from a friend-of-a-friend, Gadala, who said that a Coptic Christian orphanage had newborn children available.
Shortly after their arrival in Cairo, Botros and Andros met Ragab, a Coptic nun who works for a small charity organisation called Bait Tobia in the Cairo neighbourhood of Shobra.
According to police reports, Botros paid 26,000 Egyptian pounds for two children, whom the couple named Alexander and Victoria. Because adoption is effectively illegal in Egypt, Ragab arranged for a doctor, Mustafa, to create fake birth certificates for the two newborns - documents that made the children out to be Botros's own recently born twins.
But when Botros went to the US Embassy in Cairo in November 2008 to apply for visas for the children, consular officials became suspicious and called the police. The following month, the same American consular official reported one of Botros's co-defendants, Susan Hagelof, for the same crime, according to police reports.
Hagelof, an American who had been living with her Egyptian husband in Egypt since 2003, had "adopted" a child from a different Coptic Christian children's welfare organisation.
A third couple among the 11 defendants, Josephine al Qis Matta and Atif Rashdy Hana, were also implicated in a separate illegal adoption scheme in 2008. That couple, who, similar to their co-defendants, were reported to Egyptian police by an official with the US Embassy, managed to leave Egypt before police could detain them.
All four of the children are now living at the Dar Al Orman Association, a shelter for orphans in Giza, a suburb of Cairo.
The case, with its implications of a child-selling conspiracy, caused a sensation in the Egyptian media when it broke in late 2008. The story came shortly after Egypt's parliament passed a comprehensive new child rights law in June 2008 that placed harsher penalties on human trafficking and child abuse.
Ragab and some of her fellow defendants are among the first to be charged under the law's stricter human trafficking code.
But whereas government law enforcement officials accused the defendants of trafficking in children, the defendants and their supporters said the case reveals profound flaws in Egyptian family law, which forbids adoption among Muslims and makes it very difficult for Christians to adopt.
Sharia, or Islamic law, expressly forbids conventional adoption as it is known in western societies. Since Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution states that "the principles of the Islamic Sharia are the principle source of Egyptian legislation", the question of legalising adoption does not even figure in Egypt's political discourse. Instead, Muslims are allowed to sponsor children through a system called kafala - a sort of foster sponsorship that precludes naming the child after his or her adopted parents.
While family law in Egypt contains separate statutes for Muslims and Christians, Egyptian Christians' minority status makes adoption difficult, if not impossible, said Peter al Naggar, a lawyer for Egypt's Coptic Christian Church. The differences between the Christian and Islamic statutes exist, for the most part, on paper, Mr al Naggar said.
mbradley@thenational.ae
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
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RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Manchester United v Liverpool
Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Bob%20Marley%3A%20One%20Love
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The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
Star%20Wars%3A%20Episode%20I%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Phantom%20Menace
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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BELGIUM%20SQUAD
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Law%2041.9.4%20of%20men%E2%80%99s%20T20I%20playing%20conditions
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Super heroes
Iron Man
Reduced risk of dementia
Alcohol consumption could be an issue
Hulk
Cardiac disease, stroke and dementia from high heart rate
Spider-Man
Agility reduces risk of falls
Increased risk of obesity and mental health issues
Black Panther
Vegetarian diet reduces obesity
Unknown risks of potion drinking
Black Widow
Childhood traumas increase risk of mental illnesses
Thor
He's a god
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)