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A YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers, Dr Augustinos Samaan now faces five years’ hard labour after Egyptian courts convicted him of blasphemy in a secret trial.

Dr Augustinos Samaan is now serving five years’ hard labour for criticising Islam.

Arrested as an “extremist” in October 2025, an Egyptian court ruled against the Christian apologist in January.

The majority-Muslim country’s prosecutors were initially chasing a terrorism charge, which can carry the death penalty.

Article 98(f): A Law Weaponised Against Christians

Samaan’s case was downgraded to a blasphemy charge, euphemised as “contempt of religion” and misuse of social media (spreading misinformation).

Samaan was sentenced under Article 98(f), illustrating just how close the Egyptian judiciary is to Islam.

Critics of the amended 2006 law rightly state that its language is too vague, too broad and therefore far too easily weaponised.

This leads to double standards and a two-tier justice system that disproportionately targets Christians by wrongly convicting them for “inciting terrorism”, while “death to infidels” Islamists get off scot-free.

As Article 98 (f) states,

“Whoever exploits religion in order to promote extremist ideologies by word of mouth, in writing or in any other manner, with a view to stirring up sedition, disparaging or contempt of any divine religion or its adherents, or prejudicing national unity shall be punished.”

Doing time for the “crime” ranges between six months and five years, or a minimum fine of 500 Egyptian pounds (10 US dollars).

A Secret Trial and a Swift Conviction

Coptic Solidarity’s case file said Samaan’s sentencing followed a “secret criminal trial.”

This was, they added, “conducted without notification to his lawyers or family, without public proceedings, and without granting the defence access to the case file or a meaningful opportunity to present arguments.”

Coptic Solidarity explained that “When his family and attorneys arrived at court on January 6 expecting a detention-renewal hearing, they learned for the first time that he had already been tried and sentenced in their absence.”

He was tried without proper representation or consideration for due process in December. Yet both are supposed to be attributes of Egypt’s constitution.

Samaan’s conviction and detention show just how much the Egyptian constitution is subordinate (if not subject) to Sharia law.

Even a February 2026 appeal was marred by mismanagement. This is evidenced by the absolute disregard for transparency when it comes to cases like Samaan’s.

For instance, there is no official judgment available online from either primary or secondary government sources.

That appeal failed. The Misdemeanour Appeals Court upheld the five-year sentence and the demand that Samaan pay for court costs.

Coptic Solidarity has condemned the decision and is petitioning for his immediate release.

Samaan’s persecution for criticising Islam sits in the same realm of Jihad through the judiciary, being waged against Said Abu Mustafa Abdelrazek.

See The Daily Declaration’s dedicated coverage of Said’s case here, here, here and here.

From Silver Shield to Prison Cell

A YouTuber, Dr Augustinos Samaan received his first Silver Shield (YouTube Creator Award) in April last year.

Talking about the achievement in a video on 25 April, he said,

“Receiving a Silver Shield [for] a religious channel, defensive and offensive theology.”

“The dream has come true.”

Samaan marked receiving the 100,000 subscriber YouTube award, saying he was dedicating the shield to “My Lord and God, Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, and to the spirit of my martyred father, Simeon.”

He then added a special thanks to his mother, who, Samaan said, had “instilled in him the love of the Lord Jesus Christ despite all the wars and internal and external persecutions.”

According to reports, Egyptian prosecutors used the body of Samaan’s work to execute their case. There was no single trigger point.

His apologetic work in pointing out the chasm of differences between Christianity and Islam, alongside counterpoints to the legitimacy of Islam were enough.

Put simply, Egyptian police raided his home, then arrested the Christian intellectual simply because his online content was critical of Islam.

They weren’t concerned so much about him being an influencer; they appear to have arrested him because he was becoming meaningfully influential.

Big difference.

Coming to Samaan’s aid, Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF) said the “case is part of a broader pattern rather than an isolated incident.”

“Samaan’s religious expression online ultimately led to his arrest under Egypt’s blasphemy laws.”

ADF has filed a fresh appeal to overturn the conviction.