The Supreme Administrative Court on Tuesday revoked a Ministry of Interior-sanctioned travel ban against Christian convert Maher al-Motasem al-Gohary.
Al-Gohary is now able to travel to China with his family.
The court determined that travel bans should not be instituted except in situations provided for in Article 74 of the Constitution, adding that the ministry's decision was illegal.
In June 2009, an Egyptian court declined a request by al-Gohary to register his current religion in his identity documents. The verdict said that "conversion from Islam is unacceptable since it contradicts the prevailing order and because society has a Muslim majority," adding that "conversion is at odds with Article 2 of the Constitution which says that Islam is the primary source of legislation."
Islam prohibits conversion to Christianity, even for Muslim coverts originally belonging to the Christian faith.
Al-Gohary’s request to be recognized as a Christian is the second to be turned down. In January 2008, the administrative court dismissed another request by Mohamed Haggay, who later named himself Bishoy.
