‘Islamic extremists persecuted us, now we’re trapped in Hong Kong’
Coptic Christians Hani Shalaby and Sawsan Elshafey have suffered for their faith, enduring torture and incarceration in their native Egypt before fleeing to Asia. But the attacks, abuse and detention didn’t stop there
Their faith put them behind bars and in a mental hospital. They endured torture and threats from Muslim radical groups – including Islamic State – for being Coptic Christians. But their love pulled them together in a journey from Egypt to Hong Kong, where they thought they would find safety – but instead found themselves thrown in detention.
Hani Shalaby, a high-profile Coptic Christian, and Sawsan Elshafey, a Muslim who converted to Christianity, carry the weight of belonging to one of the historically most persecuted religious groups in the Muslim-majority nation.
“I remember trying to put excrement on myself to prevent them from sexually harassing me,” Shalaby said, recalling an episode at the Lazogly Square headquarters of the State Security Intelligence in Cairo – one of at least 10 times the 41-year-old has been detained in his life.
During another of those occasions, he was held for 17 months without charge at the Al-Gharbaliat Prison in the desert of Alexandria.
“I was tortured frequently with electric shocks and beaten badly. The torture was excruciating and caused black liquid to leak from my left eye, eventually resulting in loss of vision,” he said in written statements seen by This Week in Asia.
Born into a deeply religious family, Shalaby – who was involved in building churches and preaching – said he faced repeated attacks from a young age. That included “battery, death threats against me and my family, setting my car on fire, shooting at my car and vandalising my accommodation”.