Young Coptic Deacon Killed in Libya After Kidnappers Took Ransom, Family Says
Milad Malak, 20, went to Zliten for work in September. His sister says the kidnappers kept him after the family paid because he was the only Christian among them, and his body came home to Egypt for burial.
See where this is ›ZLITEN, Libya —
Milad Malak, a 20-year-old deacon in the Coptic church of his home village in Egypt, was kidnapped and killed in Libya after he would not give up his faith in Christ, his family says, according to reports by Worthy News and International Christian Concern (ICC).
See where this is ›Malak left his village of Sabrbay, near Tanta in Egypt's Nile Delta, on Sept. 2 with two Muslim friends from the same village to look for work in Libya, Worthy News reported. The three stayed with other Egyptian migrant workers in the western Libyan city of Zliten. His sister, Madonna Malek, said the family last heard from him on the morning of Oct. 4. Two days later, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, a message from Milad said he had been kidnapped and was being tortured.
The kidnappers demanded $4,700, and the family sent it, the sister told Worthy News. “We transferred the requested ransom ($4,700), but after receiving the money, they did not release him,” she said. The families of the two Muslim friends also paid, and both young men were freed. ICC said the friends are now in a hospital in Egypt.
The family says the kidnappers pressed Milad to convert to Islam because he was the only Christian in the group. His sister said he told them, “Even if you were to hack me to pieces, I would never renounce my faith.” ICC said he was killed when the militants saw they could not make him deny Christ.
His body was returned to Egypt weeks later. Funeral prayers were held Oct. 28 at the Church of the Archangel Michael in Sabrbay, with hundreds of people attending, Worthy News reported. His mother, Maryam Fawzi, had appealed to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Foreign Ministry to bring his remains home. A church worker who asked not to be named for safety told Worthy News, “He was faithful to Christ till his last breath.”
The killing recalls February 2015, when Islamic State militants beheaded 21 Christians, 20 Egyptian Coptic migrant workers and one man from Ghana, on a Libyan beach. Open Doors ranks Libya ninth on its 2026 World Watch List of the hardest places to follow Christ; Worthy News cited Open Doors figures of about 36,300 Christians in Libya.
What we don't know yet: who killed Milad Malak, and exactly when and where he died. ICC says the Islamic State group was responsible. Worthy News said an Egyptian outlet blamed a cell linked to the Islamic State, but that the claim could not be independently verified and the group had not claimed responsibility. Watchman News has not independently confirmed the details.
