Rafael Zaki, a Christian medical student in Canada, has been expelled from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine because he expressed anti-abortion views on Facebook.
Zaki had 18 anonymous complaints registered against him in February 2019, in the aftermath of his Facebook comments, which he later deleted.
The associate dean, Dr Ira Ripstein, then subjected Zaki to seven meetings and forced him to write ten apologies to students and members of the faculty, who remained anonymous.
However, since Zaki’s apologies did not express a repudiation of his anti-abortion belief, he was expelled from the medical school for “Student Non-Academic Misconduct and Concerning Behaviour Procedure”.
Also accused of being “misogynistic and hostile to women”, as well as making fellow students feel “unsafe”, because of his anti-abortion views, Zaki was ejected for failing to meet the university’s professional “standards”.
As Zaki states, “being a Coptic Christian is the very essence of my being, and I cannot be separated from my faith”. He and his parents had fled Egypt to Canada to escape persecution as Coptic Christians.
Even now, Zaki does not know any of the names of the complainants.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “The bigoted treatment of Rafael Zaki is an appalling and blatantly anti-Christian violation of free speech. His family fled Egypt to escape this sort of persecution.
“According to the university’s college of medicine, it cannot admit any student who is against abortion. Not only does this constitute persecution of pro-lifers, but it also bars devout Christians from learning medicine.
“This is a classic case of a kangaroo court violating a man’s right to free speech and free practice of religion.”
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