A high-profile Christian journalist in Egypt, imprisoned and tortured for converting from the Muslim faith, is reported to have begun a hunger strike in prison.

Bishoy Boulous Armia, once known as Mohammed Hegazy, was sentenced to five years in prison in July, allegedly accused of causing "sectarian strife". Bishoy is a journalist and had reportedly been investigating Islamist attacks on the Coptic Christian community in the country.

According to the report by Front Page Magazine, Bishoy's lawyer, Karam Ghobrial, reports that he has "vowed to starve himself to death".

"Bishoy is imprisoned in the execution room in violation of the law," Ghobrial is reported to have said. "Trumped up charges against him have not been proven and he is being treated even worse. He has not seen the light [of day] since being released from Minya's misdemeanor court.

"The [current] judge is behaving in a prejudiced manner in this case because Bishoy had public announced his conversion to Christianity."

When Bishoy and his wife, Katerina, converted in 1998, they faced serious persecution. Egyptian converts are not allowed to change their religion on their identity papers, and Bishoy had publicly challenged that law in court.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 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.

Previously Release International has highlighted this case, stating that Bishoy was charged in February last year for "allegedly attempting to report that Christians were at risk from violence". Bishoy had also been imprisoned in the previous December.

Release said, "Mr Hegazy's continued detention casts doubt on assurances of religious freedom in Egypt's new constitution, and reflects the vulnerability of Christians in Egypt – especially those from a Muslim background". 

According to Release, security forces in Egypt claimed that Mr Hegazy had been filming for a Christian TV channel. However, Release says that friends of Mr Hegazy believe the real reason for his arrest was because of his prominence as a convert to Christianity.

Release says that Hegazy said that he converted because 'Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did.'