Saeid Mansour Abdulraziq, a Muslim background believer (MBB), was charged with joining a terrorist organisation, stirring unrest and spreading false news by Egypt’s state security court on 22 July.
Mr Abdulraziq converted to Christianity in 2016 and joined the Russian Orthodox Church in Egypt. He endured family rejection, societal hostility and police intimidation whenever he shared his new faith publicly. In 2018, he was able to travel to Russia, where he applied for asylum and began criticising Islam publicly. This angered members of some of Russia’s Muslim communities and threatened societal unrest.
The Russian authorities arrested Mr Abdulraziq and imprisoned him for one year, after which his asylum was revoked, and he was deported to Egypt in 2024. Upon his arrival, the Egyptian authorities interrogated him for a few hours and released him after warning him to remain quiet and avoid proselytising.
Although Islamist extremists launched a campaign to press the authorities to arrest Mr Abdulraziq, he was allowed to walk free. A few weeks ago, he asked a lawyer to help him obtain new identification documents that confirmed his change of religion. Mr Abdulraziq was arrested by the police on 15 July in Al-Matareiah police station, and on 22 July he appeared before the state security prosecution, where he was charged with joining a terrorist organisation, stirring unrest and spreading false news.
Mr Saeid Fayaz, a Christian lawyer based in Cairo, told sources: “Thousands of Christian converts in Egypt have no rights and they receive little support. They live in isolation and constant fear. [Mr Abdulraziq] believed in the Egyptian constitution, which provides for religious freedom, not realising that it is a one-way freedom.”
Submit a Prayer