Coptic blogger sentenced to five years in prison in Egypt for videos about Christianity

In Egypt, Coptic Christian scholar and content creator Augustinos Samaan was sentenced to five years of hard labor for publishing videos about the Christian faith on the Internet. According to Christian Today, citing human rights group ADF International, Samaan was found guilty of violating blasphemy laws.

Augustinos Samaan, whose YouTube channel has more than 100,000 subscribers, was convicted under Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code. In addition to blasphemy charges, he was charged with «improper use of social media» and «contempt of religion,» language that is often applied to content deemed offensive to Islam by authorities. on April 24, Samaan filed an appeal, arguing that the court ruling violates his right to religious freedom.

ADF International representatives emphasize that Samaan was detained back in October 2025. His videos were mostly academic in nature: the blogger answered common questions about Christianity and analyzed the theological and philosophical differences between Christianity and Islam. ADF Global Religious Freedom Defense Director Kelsey Zorzi called the sentence «a clear violation of religious freedom» and called on Egyptian authorities to release the blogger immediately.

Human rights activists note that the case is part of a broader trend of increased monitoring of online activity by religious minorities in Egypt. Since August 2025, dozens of people, including Christian converts and young social media users, have been detained under blasphemy laws for engaging in religious discussions. Despite making up between 10% and 15% of the country’s population, Christians continue to face systemic discrimination and legal pressure, despite having constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.