Rights groups ask Egypt to overturn Christian teens' blasphemy convictions

Human rights advocates are asking Egyptian officials to overturn sentences handed down last month to three Coptic teenagers over a video they made to mock Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. The three are serving five years in prison for blasphemy, and a fourth teenager is being held indefinitely, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the verdicts and urged Egyptian authorities to reverse the convictions.

“Mocking ISIS, or any religious group, with a childish joke is not a crime,” the group said. It also called for the blasphemy law to be revoked.

“These children shouldn’t face prison for expressing themselves, even with an immature joke,” said Nadim Houry, HRW’s deputy Middle East director. “The continued prosecution of blasphemy cases in Egypt goes against the government’s claim to be promoting a more inclusive vision of religion. … Instead of giving in to retrograde views on blasphemy, Egyptian authorities should protect freedom of expression.”

CSW also criticized the sentence and the trial for violating due process.

“We are deeply shocked that these teenagers have been given the maximum sentence under the law,” CSW chief executive Mervyn Thomas said. “While the video was undoubtedly ill-advised, these charges were excessive and should never have been brought.”

The teenagers made the video while staying in a hotel during a February 2015 trip, not long after ISIS released videos showing the beheading of 21 people (mostly Egyptian Copts) in Libya. The teens’ teacher, Gad Younan, filmed the boys appearing to make fun of ISIS by kneeling to pray and imitating a beheading, The Daily Mail reported.

When Muslims learned of the video’s existence, thousands rioted in Al-Nasriyah and nearby villages, attacking Coptic homes and businesses.

Following the riots, Egyptian authorities arrested the four teenagers and Younan, in April 2015, and charged them under Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code for “insulting a heavenly religion or a sect following it.”

In February 2016, authorities gave three of the teenagers maximum sentences. Their lawyer, Maher Naguib, plans to appeal, according toThe New York Times.

“They are just teenagers,” one teen’s father told HRW. “They were psychologically troubled by the killings of Coptic Christians in Libya and went for entertainment. They didn’t deliberately intend any offense. … How can you try someone for mocking ISIS?”

Relatives of the teens also told HRW the children were detained in cells with adults and criminal suspects, in violation of Egyptian law.

“Moreover, the manner in which this trial was conducted, and the court’s failure to view primary evidence prior to passing judgement, despite its ready availability, violates due process,” Thomas said. “CSW urges the Egyptian authorities to grant clemency to these boys and their teacher and to stem the worrying rise of blasphemy and contempt of religion charges by amending Article 98 of the penal code, using the Rabat Plan of Action as a guideline.”

According to HRW, 28 groups and political parties condemned the teens’ sentences and the use of the blasphemy law. The Egyptian Institute for Personal Rights is one group concerned about the increasing number of blasphemy cases, which have surged since 2011.

In recent months, Egyptian courts also convicted a researcher and TV presenter and a secular writer for “contempt of religion,” CSW noted.