Six young Christian men have spent two weeks in prison for sharing a TikTok post that authorities considered offensive to Islam. The video featured an audio clip from a popular Egyptian comedy film, which depicts a scene of prisoners who are unfamiliar with the Quranic prayers. The six, all between the ages of 17 and 23, posted the video simply reenacting the scene from the movie. Days later, they were detained and questioned by police on charges of “exploiting” and “insulting” the Islamic religion.
“This is tragically common in Egypt, where Christians face threats, discrimination, and ultimately imprisonment for speech that is only seen as problematic because they are not part of the majority religion. These young men did nothing but share a lighthearted video with a voiceover from a popular and uncontroversial film, as many others on the platform have done. There is no reason to charge or imprison them. We have seen far too many cases of this nature in Egypt. Christians should never have to fear punishment for sharing a post. We urge the authorities to release these six young men and drop any investigations against them immediately.“ — Kelsey Zorzi, Senior Counsel and Vice President of International Advocacy at Alliance Defending Freedom
The original video was posted to TikTok on October 4. What started as a lighthearted post quickly amassed many comments inciting violence against the young men and their families. Some local villagers called the authorities to report them. On October 6, the six were handed over to the police for questioning with the understanding that they would be released once tensions in their village were calmed. Instead, they still remain in jail.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) calls for their immediate release and continues to advocate for Christians in Egypt who are facing similar punishment of their faith.
Christian Persecution Across Egypt
Christians make up about 10%-15% of Egypt’s population, yet they continue to face systemic persecution for their faith, including discrimination, violence, and imprisonment. Though Egypt’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the use of blasphemy and related “insult” laws has persisted in the country, perpetuating further persecution of Coptic Christians.
In the last year alone, scores of religious minorities have been criminally prosecuted and imprisoned for posting allegedly blasphemous content on social media, as part of a wider crackdown on online content deemed offensive to Islam.
One such case is that of Augustinos Samaan, a YouTuber who was sentenced to five years of hard labor in prison for teaching the Christian faith on his channel. In another case, Abdulbaqi Saaed Abdo, a Christian father of five, was imprisoned on charges of “blasphemy” for peacefully sharing his beliefs in a Christian Facebook group. With support from ADF, Abdo was released from prison and has relocated safely to another country.
“Christian persecution has been a persistent problem in Egypt for many years. We have seen countless cases of individuals who are targeted and punished for nothing more than expressing their beliefs. Egypt must take action to address this crisis and protect freedom of speech and religious freedom for all,” Zorzi added.
