On Oct. 5 in Alexandria, Egypt, Sherif Wagih Fahmi was arrested by National Security, which showed up at his home under false pretenses. The 41-year-old Coptic engineer has reportedly been charged with speaking against Islam. 

Around 1 p.m., two casually dressed men arrived at Sherif’s apartment complex. They asked where he lived, and neighbors soon pointed them in the right direction. 

When they knocked on his door, his young daughter answered. Sensing her hesitation to let them in, they asked her to tell her father they were from the gas company. Sherif met them at the door and agreed to come with them, telling his daughter, “I’m going to pay the gas.”  

According to Sherif’s sister, Emy, in an exclusive interview with Coptic Solidarity, neighbors recognized the event as suspicious and recorded the men escorting him into a white minivan. Out of uneasiness, they did not alert his family right away or show them the video. 

Paying an Unfair Price

Hours went by, and Sherif was still missing. His wife grew nervous and started asking everyone she could think of where he was. Eventually, friends discovered that he was being held at the National Security office in Alexandria. 

Sherif was arrested for expressing his thoughts online about Islamic education being pushed on students across the country. Article 98(f) of Egypt’s Penal Code criminalizes “any use of religion to promote or advocate extremist ideologies … with a view toward stirring up sedition, disparaging or showing contempt for any divinely revealed religion, or prejudicing national unity and social harmony.” 

His case highlights the crackdown on all religion unrecognized by the state. Since September, 14 people have been arrested for expressing non-Islamic beliefs. 

Mahmoud Shalaby, a regional researcher at Amnesty International, called on authorities to end their excessive laws.  

“Egyptian authorities must stop criminalizing discussions about religious beliefs, including those deemed as divergent from socially dominant views, or sometimes purely for reflecting and questioning them,” he said earlier this year. 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide has also expressed its disapproval of the increasing threat the government is posing to “freedoms of religion or belief and expression.” 

Story by Bella Agnello 

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