Marco Girgis

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Marco Girgis is imprisoned for blasphemy.

On June 14, 2021, authorities arrested Girgis for having pictures on his phone deemed to be offensive to Islam. During interrogation, he was reportedly questioned about his alcohol consumption, relationships with women, and images of a sexual nature found on his phone. Prosecutors charged him with “insulting heavenly religions” (Art. 98(f) ECC), “assaulting Egyptian family values” (Art. 25 Cyber-Crime Law, 2018), and “misusing social media” (Art. 27 Cyber-Crime Law, 2018), among others.

On January 29, 2022, the Cairo Economic Court sentenced Girgis to five years' imprisonment for exploiting religion to spread extremist thoughts, contempt of Islam, and assaulting Egyptian family values.

On September 12, 2022, an appeals branch of the Cairo Economic Court upheld Girgis's sentence.

On March 6, 2024, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest review court on questions of law, rejected Girgis' petition for appeal.