Mohamed Ashraf, a comedian, was accused of and arrested for "contempt of religion" by the public prosecutor after he mocked the obsessive elocution employed by the host of popular Qur'an radio show hosts.
In November 2020, Egyptian stand-up comedian Mohamed Ashraf was arrested under charges from Egypt’s general prosecutor for mocking the media personalities of a state-owned television station, Al-Quran Al-Kareem (The Holy Qur'an). In a performance from January of that year, he had mocked their manner of speaking when on the air, calling it “peculiar” and performing an exaggerated imitation. A video of this performance went viral, which ultimately led to Mohamed’s arrest.
Though he faced several charges, one of them was “contempt of religion.”
“First, I apologise to everyone who took my performance in a wrong way and thought that I was mocking the station. I especially apologise to the radio hosts in the Holy Quran station because I did not mean to mock or belittle anyone. I only imitate the radio hosts.” - Mohamed Ashraf’s apology
Shortly after being arrested, Mohamed apologized for his remarks, after which his release was ordered by the general prosecutor.
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.