Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna was arrested with a group of people at a cafe in November, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. An Egyptian minor offenses court sentenced him on blasphemy charges Saturday in what Human Rights Watch called “part of a wider government push to combat atheism and other forms of dissent.”
“Atheists are one of Egypt’s least-protected minorities, although the constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of belief and expression,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director. “Egyptian authorities need to be guided by the constitution and stop persecuting people for atheism.”
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This follows a March promise from a top Alexandria security official to arrest atheists and a June announcement by “Egypt’s youth and religious endowments ministries” that they would confront atheism.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
