A group of media figures, artists and intellectuals are organizing a conference at the Journalists' Syndicate on Wednesday to denounce blasphemy laws.
The conference is organized by the No to Inquisitions campaign, which has announced plans to submit a memo to the presidency and the next Parliament to remove constitutional articles on blasphemy.
It said in a statement on Friday that the conference is “against the destruction of the Egyptian identity”.
Most notable among the organizers are journalist Ibrahim Eissa and media host Islam Beheiry, both of whom were subject to criminal charges for insulting Islam, as well as director Dawoud Abdel Sayyed and poet Sayyed Hegab.
Egypt has seen a plethora of lawsuits against several public figures for insulting both Islam and Christianity since the 2011 uprising, which had drawn criticism by freedom advocates.
Egypt’s Constitution stipulates that Islam is the main reference for legislation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
