Persecution of Copts Copts complain that the police do not respond when crimes are committed against them. Copts also have little representation in government, leading them to fear there is little hope of progress. In 1981, President Anwar Sadat, internally exiled the Coptic Pope Shenouda III accusing him of fomenting inter-confessional strife. Sadat then chose five Coptic bishops and asked them to choose a new pope. They refused, and in 1985 President Hosni Mubarak restored Pope Shenouda III. The government and other Egyptian sources blame tribal behavior in rural Egypt for much of the violence. During Mubarak's regime (following that of Anwar Sadat),
Talaat Sadat Talaat Sadat Talaat Sadat (; February 26, 1954 – November 20, 2011) was an Egyptian politician, lawyer and former political prisoner. He was the nephew of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Talaat was arrested on 4 October 2006 after giving an interview in which he implicated Egyptian military forces in his uncle's 1981 assassination. His trial by military authorities ended on 31 October with a conviction for defaming the Egyptian armed forces, resulting in a one-year prison sentence. His arrest and conviction was criticized by the United States State Department. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, even though he was