[The Christian Post] 23 Sep 2008--Egypt’s most well-known convert to Christianity is still hiding a year after he filed the landmark case to become the first Egyptian Muslim to sue the government for rejecting his application to officially change his religion.
Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, 25, had lost his case in January when an Egyptian judge ruled that a Muslim who converted to Christianity cannot legally change his religious status.
Now, eight months after his case was closed and a year after he filed the case, Hegazy is still hiding for his life.
Since Jan. 29 when the court ruled against him, Hegazy and his wife and baby daughter has had to move five times, according to the persecution watchdog agency, Compass Direct News.
“The verdict for my case was discriminatory [on the part] of the judge,” Hegazy told Compass in an interview last month. The judge had based his decision on Islamic law that says someone can convert “up,” or to more recent religions, such as from Judaism and Christianity to Islam, but not vice versa.
But even after the media stopped reporting on his case, Hegazy said he still remains a target – as all converts do – of Islamic militants.
During the trial, Hegazy’s face was splattered across TV channels and newspapers, making him easy to recognize to any extremists.
“The most difficult thing for me is that the lives of my wife and daughter are in danger all the time,” Hegazy said.
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