Gohary is trying to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad Hegazy, who filed a similar case in August 2007, but was later denied permission to change his ID card, because the court ruled that it was "against Islamic law for a Muslim to leave Islam."

"He can believe whatever he wants in his heart, but on paper he can't convert," the judge had told the administrative court, a member of Hegazy's legal team told the Middle East Times.

Gohary, who has already changed his name to Peter, says that he converted to Christianity 34 years ago when he was attending the police academy in Cairo, but later dropped out of the academy because he was scared.

"I announced this now, because I was taken to state security and interrogated for hours," Gohary says. "They kept asking me whether an organization had put me up to this or if I was doing it for money and fame."

It was not until his brother confronted him when they were both visiting their ailing father, that Gohary decided to make his conversion public and change his ID card.

"The real reason that Peter [Gohary] has the courage is because of Muhammad Hegazy," said one of his lawyers, Nabil Ghobreyal. "This is not about fame, because I am already famous. Google me and you will see."

"I am so surprised by the Administrative Court verdict refusing the case of Hegazy. This is against all the international conventions as well as the [Egyptian] constitution and Islamic law, which guarantee the freedom of belief," Ghobreyal said.

Judges often base their decisions on religious freedoms in Article II of the Egyptian constitution, which states that Islamic law is the source of national laws. The judge in the Hegazy case said that "according to Islamic law, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion cannot return to an older belief [Christianity or Judaism]."

On a Dream TV television program, The Truth, the debate between Gohary and his lawyer versus a Coptic Christian lawyer and a Muslim Brotherhood representative was heated.

Host Wael Ibrashy, a leading editor in the North African country, called on Gohary to explain his actions and why he chose this time, when sectarian tensions were rising, to challenge the country's law.

"Christians [are expected] to be quiet, because of their faith," Gohary replied, adding: "Police are at the door of the cathedral and they won't let me in; that is a major reason behind my decision."

But Mamdouh Nakhla, a leading Coptic lawyer, was distrustful of Gohary's motives, saying he believed his professed conversion was simply an attempt to gain notoriety and fame by going public.

"Christianity is all about faith. It is very personal," Nakhla challenged. "So I don't know why he is doing this now unless he just wants fame and money; and this timing is very bad for the country."

"If we take the example of Jesus," Nakhla added, "when we pray we don't make it public, we go into our room and pray to God in a personal manner."

Nakhla says that Gohary will have a difficult time proving he honestly and truthfully converted to Christianity. The lawyer said that Gohary must prove that he was baptized and that this is not simply an attempt to marry a Christian wife.

Gohary, who has been married twice previously, is engaged to a Christian woman.

He claims that a while back he left Egypt and traveled to Cyprus, where he was baptized, although he has no documentation of such a trip.

The cases of Hegazy and Gohary have upset many in this predominantly Muslim nation. Some Egyptians feel that the attempts to publicize religious conversions are efforts to attack Islam, while others worry that these cases are inflaming already agitated, and sometimes violent, Muslim-Christian relations.

"What they do – and especially now with all the tensions between Christians and Muslims across the country – is wrong," said Karim, a young Muslim in Cairo.

"They have a right to believe whatever they want, but to go public and try and get famous for their conversion is wrong and is probably not the best thing for a country struggling with our religious differences."