A student in Ismailia was sentenced to one year in prison by an Egyptian court earlier this month on grounds of contempt of religion. 22-year-old Sherif Gaber was a student of commerce at Suez Canal University in 2013, when fellow students and teaching staff signed a petition to have him reported to the institution’s president. They alleged that Gaber had made non-religious comments on his Facebook profile and also started a page called The Atheists on the social networking site.
Consequently, the university’s then president Mohamed A Mohamedein went on to file a legal complaint against Gaber. The recent verdict, delivered on February 16, sentences Gaber to one year in prison or allows him to go scot-free for a bail of EGP 1,000. However, Gaber has decided to appeal the verdict, despite him standing the risk of the sentence being increased to two years. The retrial is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
Speaking to the media, Gaber said how he was a “good student… top of his class”, but that his altercation with the university started after he challenged one of his science teachers. Apparently, the contention took place over the teacher referring to homosexuality as a sin and suggested that homosexuals should “be crucified in the middle of the streets.” Gaber said a lecturer from his university went on to print out posts on his Facebook page that question religion in general. Reportedly, the lecturer went on to threaten Gaber thereafter, before all of his classmates, saying the printouts would be submitted as evidence against him to the university president as well as the prosecutor general. Even though no action was taken against him for the next couple of months, on October 27, 2013, Gaber was arrested from his home at 3 am.
“[I couldn’t believe] the strength of the security of the state – three armoured cars and an army vehicle, surrounded my house,” Gaber said. “I said there must be another Osama bin Laden living in the same tower… I didn’t know I was that dangerous.”
Gaber was detained by national security forces until December 2013, after which he was given bail for EGP 7,000. Gaber claims he was subjected to brutal abuse, including electrocution, during this period, saying security officials decided to “punish every part of me.” After being disowned by his family, Gaber decided to live alone thereafter, though now he is seeking emergency asylum to avoid being imprisoned in case the retrial does not work in his favour. Also, according to him, even though the university has not suspended him since his arrest, they are repeatedly and forcibly failing him in all his subjects.
Mohamedein spoke to the media, saying he could not remember the incident, as a lot of things had happened during his supervision. The spokesperson for the university was unavailable for comment as well.
“The state of freedom of expression in Egyptian universities is very bad,” said Fatma Serag, a lawyer working with Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression,who provided support to Gaber. “Universities’ managements encourage students to report on their fellow students that have different political and ideological thoughts in order to take legal action against them and notify the national security agency and the police… This puts freedom of speech in a state of danger and puts restrictions on the academic freedom, especially for the teaching staff, muzzling their ability to teach and spread their thoughts… I strongly condemn the ruling issued against Sherif Gaber, and I hope his innocence is granted by appeal.”
Supporters of Gaber have set up a petition called Free Sherif Gaber to collect funds for his bail as well as a Facebook page to educate people around the world about his case, which is only one of the many convictions against atheism in Egypt in recent years.
In Article 2 of Egypt’s Constitution, Islam is recognized as the state religion and principles of Islamic Sharia are considered the primary source for legislation. Yet, Article 64 guarantees Egyptians absolute freedom of religion. Even though atheism is not explicitly illegal, the government and judiciary have recently upheld the role of religion in Egypt by specifying three penal codes – contempt of heavenly religions, mocking religious rituals in public and desecrating religious symbols. Each of these charges carries a sentence of up to five years.
Photo Credits: Imgur
