Egypt Sentences Christians: Three Teenagers Get Years-Long Prison Terms For ‘Insulting Islam’

Egypt has sentenced three Christian teenagers to lengthy prison sentences for appearing in a video in which, as far as an Egyptian judge is concerned, they insulted Islam — a crime in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation. A fourth Christian teenager has been sentenced to an indefinite term in a juvenile detention facility.

As MSN reports, in January 2015 four Coptic Christian teens were caught on a mobile phone video carrying out what their lawyer, Maher Naguib, claims was a spoof of the beheadings carried out by ISIS.

In the video, one of the teens kneels on the ground and recites Muslim prayers. Another stands behind him laughing.

As far as the judge was concerned, the Christian teens’ actions amounted to insulting Islam and, according to their attorney, threw the book at them.

“They have been sentenced for contempt of Islam and inciting sectarian strife. The judge didn’t show any mercy. He handed down the maximum punishment.”

The three older teens have been sentenced to five-year prison sentences. A fourth teen, the youngest of the group, was sentenced to an “indefinite period” in a juvenile detention facility. Their teacher, who also can be seen in the video, has already been sentenced to three years.

Officially, Egypt’s constitution forbids insulting Islam, Christianity, or Judaism — the three major monotheistic religions. However, human rights groups maintain that Egypt routinely uses the law to persecute religious minorities, particularly, its minority Coptic Christian community.

Coptic Christianity, according to Christianity Today, is an ancient Christian sect dating back to the first century CE in Egypt. Tradition claims that the Coptic community in Egypt was founded by the Apostle Mark, and, like the Roman Catholic Church, claims “apostolic succession” — in their case, from Mark through to the current Coptic Christian Pope, Pope Tawadros II.

Copts comprise the vast majority of Egypt’s roughly 9 million Christians (and Christians comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s roughly 90 million people). Egypt is also home to a small number of Christian refugees from Sudan.

In recent years, several high-profile court cases seem to illustrate a pattern of persecution of Christians in Egypt by the Muslim nation’s courts. For example, in 2014, a Coptic Christian teacher was sentenced to six months in jail after parents of her students complained she was promoting Christianity and insulting Islam. Similarly, a Coptic Christian man was jailed in 2014 after posting a picture of Islam’s prophet Mohammed on his Facebook page, along with a comment that a judge deemed insulting.

Egyptian courts also appear to take a rather broad view of just what constitutes “insulting Islam.” Even Muslims in Egypt have been jailed for insulting Islam. For example, Muslim scholar Islam al-Behairy was jailed in December simply for appearing on TV and calling for reforms in “traditional Islamic discourse.”

Although Egypt’s Coptic Christian community often finds itself at odds with the Egyptian courts, from time to time hopeful stories emerge that appear to show solidarity between Egypt’s Muslim and Christian citizens. For example, in 2013, viral photos emerged from Egypt showing Muslims forming a human chain to protect Christians who were attempting to worship, according to Christian Post. Christians then returned the favor and did the same, to shield their Muslim neighbors.

As of this writing, the Coptic Christian teenagers sentenced by an Egyptian court for insulting Islam have not been taken to jail, and their attorney plans to appeal their sentences.

[Photo by Ed Giles/Getty Images]