Ayman Yusef Mansur was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor for Facebook posts which "insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion." He was arrested after police tracked him down using his IP address.
In October 2011, Egyptian Ayman Yusef Mansur was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment “with hard labor” for posting blasphemous remarks on Facebook. Justifying the conviction, the court argued that Ayman’s comments—the details of which are not known—were “aimed at the Noble Qur’an, the true Islamic religion, the Prophet of Islam and his family and Muslims, in a scurrilous manner.”
“[The accused] intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule online … all members of religions are obligated to tolerate the others’ existence.” - court statement
Though it did not specify Ayman’s religion, the court’s statement seemed to imply that he was not a Muslim.
Egypt has a general blasphemy law that prohibits disparaging “the heavenly religions.” While the law ostensibly targets no religion in particular, in practice it is usually used against religious minorities and those who blaspheme Islam. Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority has particularly borne a disproportionate weight of blasphemy prosecutions. In addition to the relatively aggressive efforts of Egyptian authorities to prosecute such cases, blasphemers and atheists must also contend with social pressure, coercion, and the risk of vigilante violence.