Coptic Solidarity Launches Campaign to Demand Release of Christian Convert Arbitrarily Detained in Egypt

For Immediate Release
(Washington, D.C.)  September 17, 2025/CNW

Coptic Solidarity today announced the launch of an international online advocacy campaign urging the Egyptian government to immediately and unconditionally release Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, a Christian convert who has been arbitrarily detained in Cairo since July 15, 2025.

This follows the submission of a joint letter—organized through the International Religious Freedom Roundtable and signed by a coalition of human rights organizations and prominent individuals—to Egypt’s Ambassador in Washington, D.C., H.E. Motaz Zahran, urging him to raise Mr. Abdelrazek’s imprisonment at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.

Mr. Abdelrazek’s case highlights the stark contradiction between Egypt’s constitutional guarantees of “absolute freedom of belief” and the harsh reality faced by those who leave Islam for another faith. Article 64 of Egypt’s Constitution proclaims that freedom of belief is absolute, yet converts are routinely harassed, arrested, and imprisoned.

After converting to Christianity in 2016, Mr. Abdelrazek endured relentless persecution: repeated arrests, torture, forced divorce, and separation from his son.

In 2018, Abdelrazek attempted to leave Egypt and seek asylum in Russia, but Egyptian authorities blocked his attempt, summoning him to National Security, where he was mistreated. Eventually he succeeded in reaching Russia, applied for asylum, and formally converted into the Russian Orthodox Church.

In Russia, Abdelrazek’s outspoken criticisms of his former faith (including some public acts triggered, he later explained, by some Muslims’ provocations during social media interactions) induced backlash. He was imprisoned for 11 months and later deported to Egypt in 2024, despite having official documentation from the UNHCR stating that he qualified for protection in Russia.

Upon refoulment to Egypt, he was detained, then released with warnings from the National Security officer and additionally forced to undergo painful procedures to remove a Christian tattoo he had done in Russia. Abdelrazek later confided to close friends that during his detention he had been suspended with his hands tied to a wall in a “crucified position” for several hours each day over the course of a week while being detained.

On July 15, 2025, Mr. Abdelrazek was arrested again in Cairo’s Matariya district while considering legal steps to update his official documents to reflect his Christian faith. One week later, he was brought before the State Security Prosecution and charged with grave offenses, including “joining a terrorist organization.” Equating conversion with terrorism underscores the alarming criminalization of religious freedom in Egypt. His lawyers have been denied access to case files, and his requests for basic needs such as clothes and medication have been ignored.

“Mr. Abdelrazek’s only so-called ‘crime’ is living consistently with his conscience and his faith,” said Coptic Solidarity President, Caroline Doss Esq. “His case is emblematic of a broader pattern of Egypt’s failure to uphold both its constitutional commitments and its international obligations under treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture.”

Through the online campaign, Coptic Solidarity is calling on human rights defenders, policymakers, and the public to:

• Demand the immediate and unconditional release of Said Abdelrazek.
• Call on Egypt to uphold its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, including the right to change one’s faith and update official records accordingly.
• Ensure equal protection before the law for all Egyptians, regardless of religious affiliation.

Mr. Abdelrazek’s aspiration was simple: to walk freely in the street and sit peacefully with a friend. That such modest hopes result in imprisonment reveals the urgent need for international pressure to end religious persecution in Egypt.

Coptic Solidarity invites supporters worldwide to join this campaign by taking action on our website and by amplifying Mr. Abdelrazek’s story on social media with the hashtag #FreeSaidAbdelrazek.

Coptic Solidarity is an organization seeking to help Copts of Egypt and other persecuted minorities. We support those in Egypt working for the protection of the fundamental rights of all Egyptian citizens, and advocate in cooperation with the affiliated organizations in Canada and in Europe (Solidarité Copte). For more information, contact coptadvocacy@copticsolidarity.org