Prominent Islam-critical YouTuber Sherif Gaber has faced arrest multiple times since in 2013 and had been in hiding after being convicted for insulting religion in 2015. He was arrested again trying to leave Egypt in 2018.
running the world's largest Arabic atheist YouTube channel
Sherif Gaber is an Egyptian atheist who produces satirical and argumentative videos on Islam. In his videos, he has been outspoken against religious fundamentalism and restrictions on free thought, advocating for a secular and scientific worldview. As a result of openly professing these opinions, he has faced charges of blasphemy from the Egyptian government.
In 2013, Sherif got into an argument with one of his professors at the Suez Canal University in Ismaili, Egypt, in which he defended LGBT rights against his professor’s insistence that gay people should be killed. A few months later, this led to a group of students notifying the university’s rector of similarly blasphemous material Sherif had posted on social media.
Sherif was soon arrested and jailed. Although he was released after a payment, two years later he was charged once again with blasphemy and found guilty. He went into hiding, but three years later, he was found, arrested, and jailed again. Now in his late twenties, his legal troubles that began while he was a university student for speaking against religious doctrine have never ceased.
"They shocked me with electricity, punished every part of me. They wanted to know who was giving me money to be an atheist and criticize Islam." - Sherif Gaber on his treatment in custody
Facing multiple charges of blasphemy, Sherif is currently barred from leaving Egypt, but he continues to seek a means of escape to a less repressive society. He is still producing videos for his YouTube channel.
‘I live to face things, not run from them’: Repression and asylum in Egypt - Middle East Eye
Sherif Gaber, Egyptian Student, Sentenced To Prison For Atheist Facebook Posts - Huffington Post
Sherif Gaber: "I'm on the verge of committing suicide" - HPD [in German]
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.