UPDATE 23 April 2026: The case against Said Abdelrazek opened on 21 April with a procedural hearing during which the court did not address the substance of the charges but focused on ensuring the defence team’s ability to exercise its legal rights. During the court session the defence submitted a request that proceedings be adjourned in order to review the case file, prepare a legal defence and summon prosecution witnesses for examination before the court. The adjournment was granted and the court postponed the case to 15 June 2026. In the meantime, Said will remain in detention.
Christian convert Said Abdelrazek is facing a court hearing on 21 April at Egypt’s First Criminal Terrorism Circuit in Badr.
In 2025 he was arrested, imprisoned and charged with terrorism-related offences, which supporters say arose out of his conversion from Islam and his attempt to change his religion on identity documents.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated him a religious prisoner of conscience and states that he is “detained for his religious conversion and activity”. Apostasy is not a crime under Egyptian law, but attempts to change religious identity on official documents sometimes result in prosecution on charges of threat to national security.
Said is currently detained in Cairo’s 10th of Ramadan Prison, where he has reportedly been physically abused and deprived of basic necessities including adequate food, clothing and medical care. His experience is consistent with observers’ long-standing concerns about prison conditions in Egypt, especially for those jailed on political or religious grounds.
The Badr court complex has been criticised by international human rights observers for its lack of due process and transparency and for its denial of basic legal protections for defendants. Individuals brought before these courts often face prolonged pretrial detention, limited access to lawyers and proceedings that do not comply with international fair trial standards.
Background
Said became a Christian in 2016 and joined the Russian Orthodox Church in Egypt. He was ostracised by his family and faced harassment and police intimidation for sharing his faith in public. In 2018 he moved to Russia, where he sought asylum on religious grounds and began criticising Islam publicly. This angered some members of the Muslim community and in 2023 he was arrested for his connection to a video that was purportedly offensive to Islam.
Said was imprisoned for a year and in 2024 he was deported back to Egypt, despite holding documentation from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees confirming that he qualified for international protection. Said’s deportation violates the principle of non-refoulement, which is intended to protect a refugee or asylum seeker from forced return to a country where they face the threat of persecution.
On Said’s arrival the Egyptian authorities detained him and held him incommunicado for around ten days. He later stated that during this time he was coerced into undergoing the painful removal of a Christian tattoo and was suspended for hours at a time in a so-called “crucifixion” position.
The authorities then interrogated him about his religious beliefs and pressurised him to recant, monitor other converts and delete his social media accounts. They released him with instructions not to speak publicly or proselytise. He did, however, resume posting about his religious beliefs online.
On 15 July 2025 police arrested Said without a warrant in Cairo after he asked a lawyer to help him obtain new identification documents that recognised his change of religion. Commenting on the arrest, Cairo-based Christian lawyer Saeid Fayaz told Christian Solidarity Worldwide: “Thousands of Christian converts in Egypt have no rights and they receive little support. They live in isolation and constant fear. Saeid believed in the Egyptian constitution which provides for religious freedom, not realising that it is a one-way freedom.”
On 22 July Egypt’s state security court charged Said with joining a terrorist organisation, stirring unrest and spreading false information.
Refused permission to attend Christmas mass
Said requested permission to attend a Coptic Orthodox Christmas mass on 7 January but prison authorities in the 10th Ramadan Prison refused.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that he met with his lawyer Saeid Fayaz on 13 January, after which Mr Fayaz reported that his client seemed to be in good spirits and that he fully understands his legal situation and the potential outcomes. Said told his lawyer that he would like to be able to worship in the prison, acquire a Bible and receive communion.
Urgent appeal to Australian government
In May 2024 Said filed an application for a humanitarian visa to Australia, but he is still waiting to hear the outcome – his fiancée is an Australian citizen and has appealed for urgent intervention, criticising what she described as Australia’s lack of meaningful diplomatic engagement.
On 26 January 2026 an appeal letter written by Coptic Solidarity on behalf of an international coalition of human rights organisations, religious freedom advocates and independent experts urged the Australian Government to “take immediate humanitarian and diplomatic action on behalf of Mr Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, an Egyptian national and Christian convert who has been arbitrarily detained in Cairo since 15 July 2025 for exercising his fundamental right to freedom of belief”.
The letter continues: “We are deeply concerned that Mr Abdelrazek’s continued imprisonment reflects a persistent and alarming pattern of religious persecution in Egypt, particularly against individuals who convert from Islam.
“Mr Abdelrazek converted to Christianity in 2016 after years of personal reflection. Since that time, he has endured severe and sustained persecution by Egyptian authorities, including repeated arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, forced divorce, separation from his young son, and continuous surveillance. His experience starkly contradicts Article 64 of Egypt’s Constitution, which states that ‘freedom of belief is absolute,’ yet in practice denies that right to those who leave Islam.”
The letter urges the Australian Government to:
- Grant Mr Abdelrazek humanitarian or protection status, enabling his safe relocation and reunification with his fiancée in Australia;
- Press Egyptian authorities, through bilateral diplomatic channels, to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek; and
- Raise his case at relevant international forums, including the United Nations, emphasising Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law.”
(Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Coptic Solidarity, International Christian Concern, US Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Photo: Christian Solidarity Worldwide