By Coptic Solidarity-
On October 5, 2026, National Security Agency forces arrested Sherif Wagih Fahmi, a 41-year-old Coptic engineer, from his house in Alexandria. This arrest comes amid a wide crackdown on online activity and religious freedoms.
Forces showed up at Fahmi’s house with two military-grade vehicles at 1 pm to arrest him. Fahmi has reportedly been charged with “contempt of Islam.”
According to informed sources, Fahmi’s arrest and the charges he faces likely stem from Facebook posts he shared in the last few weeks.
A Christian clergyman, who requested anonymity, said that the arrest of Sherif Wagih, who had spoken out about the Islamization of education, was intended to send a message, in keeping with the Egyptian proverb: “Beat the one who is tied up to frighten the one who is free.”
In other words, it is a warning to everyone to keep silent: anyone who speaks out about Christian rights inside Egypt can expect the same fate.
He thought that the plan appears to erase the Christian identity and belief, beginning with the upbringing of children and future generations of Christians, by immersing them in Islamic culture.
He lamented that, unfortunately, the Church institutin has become nothing more than a submissive servant (to the State), concerned only with religious rituals, its public image, and its institutional standing. It has willingly and wholeheartedly embraced the mentality of dhimmitude–accepting a subordinate status as a matter of conviction.
Coptic Solidarity calls on the Egyptian government to release Mr Fahmi immediately and to halt its aggressive campaign targeting Copts and other religious and social groups using absurd “blasphemy” laws.
