RADP / Pulse Nigeria > Communities > Religion

Imprisoned Christian journalist goes on hunger strike

December 7, 2014 2:29 PM

An Egyptian Christian journalist, Bishoy Boulous Armia, who was imprisoned and tortured for converting from Islam to Christianity, has reportedly gone on a hunger strike in prison.

Bishoy Boulous Armia, who was known as Mohammed Hegazy, is a journalist who has reportedly been investigating Islamist attacks on the Egyptian Christian Community. He was arrested, tortured and sentenced to five years in prison in July, allegedly accused of causing "sectarian strife" i.e. violence between different sects of one particular mode of religion within a nation.

Now according to a report by Front Page Magazine, Bishoy's lawyer, Karam Ghobrial, has said that the imprisoned journalist has "vowed to starve himself to death".

Bishoy and his wife, Katrina converted from Islam to Christianity in 1998 and faces persecution after the changed their religion on their identity card.

After their conversion, the family started to get death threats, even from their own parents. Their lawyer received death threats and resigned from the case. Bishoy was tortured, his flat broken into and the family forced into hiding.

He was arrested for reporting that Christians in Egypt were facing persecution for a Christian TV channel. Friends of Bishoy however think that he was arrested for converting from Islam.