Sherif Gaber, Egyptian atheist activist, is facing a blasphemy charges for ‘assaulting the Islamic religion and sharia and denying the definite truth of religion and ridiculing the Prophet’. The blasphemy claim was filed by Egyptian religious conservative al-Nour party.
Gaber was already arrested in 2013 for starting a Facebook group which contained posts about how he became an atheist and he was given one year in prison. He went in-hiding in Egypt after he was released on bail. Gaber's work can be seen on YouTube where he posts videos about atheism and his videos are very popular around the world receiving millions of views.
As TheExMuslim.com reports in a recent interview, when asked why he’s chosen to stay in Egypt despite the threat he faces, Gaber stated that:
“What happened to me sparked a battle for freedom of thought. I can’t run away now, I prefer to fight for my rights from within the battle itself, and not on the outskirts in some foreign land. My goal is to be able to express myself any way I want and help those who desire the same freedom to be able to do so as well, in our own country. I don’t see myself as an activist, I simply want people to listen, and think without fear. I could do it from anywhere else in the world, but I believe it would have a more powerful effect to do it here, where we’re born and raised.”
Freedom of speech is highly restricted in Egypt and the lawmakers are even considering to outlaw atheism itself. Many Muslim countries have the death penalty for leaving Islam, while others include criminal sanctions. The mufti of Al-Azhar university has previously expressed support for criminal sanction against apostasy and further stated that there is unanimous consensus among Islamic scholars that apostasy is a crime which is punishable by death.
Unfortunately, Gaber is now facing more serious charges, according to TheExMuslim.com. Al-Nour’s lawyer Haitham Hashim Saad has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor indicating that Gaber was disturbing the public peace and provoking strife among society and that he should be charged under article 176 of the Penal code. This article of the Egypt's Penal Code has already been used to suppress free-thinkers and atheists who were charged for insulting Islam and disrupting public order.
Having all of this in mind there is a good chance the attorney general will have Gaber arrested in the near future, especially because of close connections between the al-Nour party and Egyptian government. The Al-Nour party has allied with the country's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and campaigned for him in recent elections.
Despite the threats, Gaber kept his spirit in his tweet:
"As expected, today some muslim lawyers reported me to the attorney general because of my videos. I’ll probably get arrested in the next few days, but i don't want you to get mad. I’ll keep making videos when i get out.. I’ll write the scripts in prison."
Photo Credits: Atheism Online
