On 24 April Coptic Christian scholar and YouTuber Dr Augustinos Samaan (37) filed an appeal against his conviction on charges of “contempt of religion” and “misuse of social media”. He has been in detention since October 2025 for posting apologetics videos online. In January 2026 he was convicted under Egypt’s blasphemy laws in a secret trial and was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour, plus payment of court costs.
Augustinos, who holds a PhD in comparative religion, posted videos answering questions about Christianity, exploring the differences between Christianity and Islam and addressing anti-Christian incitement to a channel with over 100,000 subscribers.
His family and legal team arrived at court on 6 January expecting a detention-renewal hearing, only to discover that he had already been tried and sentenced in their absence. Court officials later confirmed that the case had been heard on 27 December and adjourned to 3 January, when it was adjudicated and sentence passed – without notification to his lawyers or family, without granting the defence access to the case file or opportunity to present arguments, and without public scrutiny. Defence only gained access to the case file on 11 February.
Coptic Solidarity notes that the proceedings violated Article 96 of the Egyptian Constitution (which guarantees the presumption of innocence, the right to defence and fair-trial standards) and contravened Egypt’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including protections for freedom of belief, expression and fair trial.
“This is not a legitimate judicial proceeding – it is punishment by procedure,” Coptic Solidarity stated. “Secret trials and denial of defence rights place Egypt in clear violation of its constitutional and international commitments.”
Arrested and charged with terrorism, then blasphemy
Augustinos was arrested in the early hours of 1 October 2025 by masked special-forces officers who confiscated his laptop, phone, books and personal papers. Following interrogation and reported torture he was initially charged with terrorism-related offences, but prosecutors later dropped these charges and instead charged him with “contempt of religion” and misuse of social media under Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code, which deals with blasphemy (“contempt of religion”) offences and criminalises speech deemed offensive to Islam.
From October to December Augustinos was held in pretrial detention in El Basatin police station, alongside detainees accused of serious criminal offences, and reportedly suffered mistreatment and abuse. Detention was repeatedly renewed in 15-day increments until his trial took place.
An initial appeal failed in February 2026, with the Misdemeanour Appeals Court upholding his five-year sentence and the demand that he pay court costs.
Coptic Solidarity notes that there are serious concerns regarding Augustinos’ physical and mental well-being in detention, following reports of torture, humiliation and abuse by other detainees.
Dozens arrested since August
Egypt’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the use of blasphemy laws persists. ADF International reports that since August 2025 dozens of individuals from religious minorities have been arrested in connection with online religious content including posting on social media, engaging in religious discussion or critique and converts speaking about their faith.
Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom at ADF International, stated: “The Egyptian government is increasingly monitoring the online activity of Christians and other religious minorities, while more people are being imprisoned simply for expressing their beliefs through social media. We call on the government to reverse course and honour its commitments to protect religious freedom and freedom of expression.”
(ADF International, Coptic Solidarity, The Daily Declaration)
Photo: ADF International