Ayman Rida Hanna and Mounir Massad Hanna, two Copts, were sentenced to a year in prison for a "blasphemous" social media video in which they discussed Islamic prayers.
In June 2019, two Egyptian Coptic Christians—Ayman Rida Hanna and Mounir Masaad Hanna—were arrested on grounds of blasphemy. They spent almost a year and a half in detention before their case finally moved forward to the courts. They stood accused of insulting Islam in a video posted to the internet. They were found guilty, convicted, and sentenced to a year in prison.
“The security forces arrested them in June 2019 after they appeared in a video discussing prayer in Islam. The two men remained in pre-trial detention until the prosecution [charged them] despite our repeated calls to release them.” - lawyer for the accused
It is unclear if the two were released, since they had already spent more than a year in prison, or if they are still detained.
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.