Recently, the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG FoRB) spotlighted a young Egyptian YouTuber as their “Prisoner of Conscience of the Month”.
The case in question is that of Augustinos Samaan, a Coptic Christian scholar and YouTuber from Egypt, who was sentenced to five years in prison and hard labour for posting YouTube videos teaching about and defending the Christian faith.
Samaan’s videos, in which he answered common questions about Christianity and compared Christianity with Islam, were deemed “misuse of social media” and “contempt of religion”, violating the blasphemy provisions of the Egyptian Penal Code.
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In January 2026, Samaan was sentenced to five years in prison and hard labour. With the support of ADF International, he has filed an appeal to overturn his conviction.
The decision to highlight the case before one of Westminster’s largest cross-party groups is significant: the APPG counts 120 members across the Commons and the Lords, and aims to drive the UK’s contributions to international efforts to protect freedom of religion or belief.
Since the start of 2026, members of the APPG FoRB have already raised six questions in Parliament relating to religious freedom in Egypt; more than were raised in the years 2020-2025 combined. The Government’s response has consistently been to affirm its commitment to championing FoRB for all and to “continue to regularly raise rights concerns with the Egyptian authorities where appropriate”.
The UK is not alone in raising concerns: Augustinos’ is one of several Egyptian cases monitored by international religious freedom bodies, including the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The marked increase in parliamentary advocacy on the subject comes as Egyptian authorities show a greater zeal for punishing “blasphemous” content. Since August 2025, Egypt has seen the prosecution and imprisonment of dozens of people from religious minorities for online posts that were deemed to be “blasphemous”.
This growing trend is not new: in 2021, Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo, a father of five, was arrested in Egypt for blasphemy. He had fled his native Yemen and requested asylum there after receiving death threats for converting to Christianity. He spent over three years in pre-trial detention, where poor conditions worsened his severe health conditions and he was regularly denied visits from his family and lawyers.
His crime? Participating in a Facebook page aimed at Christian converts from Islam.
Blasphemy legislation is choking freedom of religion around the world
With the support of ADF International and partners across the globe, Abdulbaqi was finally freed in January 2025 — but others, like Augustinos, remain in custody, while still more Christians across Egypt fear similar consequences for peacefully expressing their beliefs.
Blasphemy legislation is choking freedom of religion around the world, with Christians and religious minorities disproportionately paying the price. In Pakistan, ADF International is supporting Akash Karamat, who was a minor when he was arrested on false charges of blasphemy and detained for 20 months. Though released, the charges have left Akash open to mob violence, open threats on his life, and threats of violence towards his family.
Though in principle freedom of religion is enshrined in Egypt’s constitution — as it is in Pakistan and many other countries – in practice it is incompatible with blasphemy laws that can be used to punish people for peacefully living and sharing their faith.
The attention of the APPG FoRB — hailing from a country with deep historic links to Egypt — is a welcome development in the UK, whose domestic record on freedom of religion and other crucial liberties in recent years has left much to be desired.
The UK itself has come under global scrutiny for egregious free speech violations and policing online content. We should recognise that we will have a much greater chance of opposing blasphemy laws abroad — as we should — if we also ensure that our freedoms are preserved in the UK.
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