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| Map of countries accused of persecution of the church in 2009 |
Originally published in the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo on August 25, 2010 (in portuguease).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil said the tour operator Dagnaldo Pinheiro Gomes, 36, arrested in Egypt, should be extradited. The information was passed by the Egyptian government to the Brazilian embassy in Cairo. The Brazilian was arrested on August 17, 2010, accused of religious proselytizing. The practice is prohibited in the African country, a secular state with a Muslim majority.
Preliminary information indicates that the Brazilian was caught with a Bible and a Christian religious material. He lived for seven years in Cairo and in Egypt is the representative of the tourism agency Orientur, located in the city of Guarulhos (Sao Paulo metropolitan region, southeastern Brazil), and accompanying groups of tourists visiting the country. According to the company Orientur Renata Freire, Gomes has a work visa in 2012 and was legally in the country.
The bride's Gomes, Mariângela Vale, said she received a call from him on the night of 18, he said he had been arrested the previous day. He did not say why he had been arrested.
"The reason for the arrest is unknown. That is our concern," said Mariângela, who lives in the city of Balsas (within the state of Maranhao, northeastern Brazil). For her the telephone call from Gibson was being monitored and he could not give details. She said he appeared to be quiet.
"We expected that everything could be resolved quickly because he speaks Arabic. But we are six days we have not heard from him," said the bride. According Mariângela, links to his cell phones are routed directly to voicemail and he came in closer contact.
