Christian convert imprisoned in Egypt begins hunger strike; lawyers demand his release

An Egyptian convert to Christianity who has been in prison for more than two years for speaking publicly about his faith has declared a hunger strike, prompting religious freedom activists to step up their calls for his release.

In a heartbreaking letter to his wife and five children, Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo said he began a partial strike on August 7 by refusing medical care “from the person in charge of healthcare in the prison.”

A translation of the letter was published on August 15 by the religious freedom advocacy group ADF International.

“I will gradually expand my strike over the next few weeks until it is complete. And the reason for my strike is because they arrested me without legal justification or convicted me of violating the law. And they did not release me during my pre-trial detention, which ended 8 months ago,” he wrote.

According to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), authorities arrested Abdo, an asylum seeker registered under international law residing in Egypt, in December 2021 after he spoke on a Christian television channel about his conversion from Islam to Christianity and the persecution Christians face in his native Yemen.

Another convert to Christianity, Nour Girgis, was also arrested by the authorities for his participation in the television program.

“Abdo was also active in Facebook groups for Christian converts,” the USCIRF said. “He was accused of joining a terrorist organization, contempt for Islam, and discrimination against Islam.”

Since his arrest, the commission said, the Yemeni convert's health has deteriorated in prison and he was denied medical treatment in April 2024 “after complaining of chest pain.”

The following month, Abdo was placed in solitary confinement after a fellow inmate “reported him for copying Bible verses from scraps of paper.” His family was denied visits, prompting him to declare a hunger strike over his extended detention.

“No one should be imprisoned for expressing their Christian faith in a social media post. This devastating cry for help from Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo cannot be ignored, and it is high time that the Egyptian authorities released him and Nour Girgis from their unjust and unlawful detention,” said Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Global Religious Freedom at ADF International.

“We are using all available mechanisms to ensure that both men are released and returned to their families,” she said in a statement released on August 15.

Zorzi said the detention of the two Christian converts exposed the abuse of Egyptian law “to punish people with minority views and beliefs” and that governments around the world were failing to uphold freedom of religion and expression, leading to “unbridled criminalization of social media posts and religious practice.”

“Whether in the Middle East, Europe or elsewhere, we urgently need to better protect fundamental human rights and give everyone the opportunity to freely have and express their own beliefs,” she said.

ADF International also released a statement from U.S. Representative Chris Smith, RN.J., Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Global Human Rights and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, who called Abdo’s detention “a grave and grotesque violation of his human rights.”

“I call on the government to release Abdo to a safe situation and I call on UNHCR to protect and give priority to vulnerable or at-risk applicants, including Christian converts from Islam and those accused of blasphemy,” Smith said.

ADF International said it was currently working to secure the release of Abdo and Girgis, adding that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief had received information about their detention and the denial of “their right to freedom of religion and to a fair trial under international law.”