by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A Christian man in Egypt is facing five years in prison after being convicted of having posted social media content considered to promote contempt for Islam, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
In January, a lower court found the Christian guilty of “exploiting religion to promote extremist ideas; contempt for the Islamic religion; and transgression against the values of the Egyptian family,” ICC reports. He was sentenced to five years in jail.
An appeal was filed with the Misdemeanors Court of Appeal in the Economic Court of Egypt, which is scheduled to give its verdict on September 12.
Attorneys from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) who have been representing the Christian have said the charges against him are illegitimate: the content at the center of the case was presented in private social media conversations, ICC said. The lawyers added that the sentence is also illegitimate in light of illegalities in arrest and interrogation procedures.
“While Egypt’s government speaks positively about the Christian community, the lack of serious law enforcement and the unwillingness of local authorities to protect Christians leave them vulnerable to all kinds of attacks,” the Open Doors USA advocacy organization explained in a website statement. Moreover, Open Doors said, “The dictatorial nature of the regime means Christians feel unable to speak out against these practices.”
Egypt ranks 20thg on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2022 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.