Egyptian Prosecutors Seek Death or 25 Years for Christian Convert Said Abdelrazek
The man who left Islam for Christ has been held since July 2025 and says he was tortured to make him deny Jesus. His defense will answer the prosecution on Dec. 8.
See where this is ›CAIRO, Egypt —
Prosecutors in Egypt are asking a terrorism court for the “maximum penalty” against Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, a convert from Islam to Christianity, the Jerusalem Post reported Nov. 4. The Post said the possible sentences are execution or 25 years in prison. The court adjourned the case to Dec. 8, 2026, when his defense is to present its arguments.
See where this is ›Abdelrazek is on trial before the First Criminal Terrorism Circuit in Badr, in eastern Cairo, according to an April report by Christian Daily International that ran in The Christian Post. His legal team includes the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms and the office of cassation lawyer Saeed Fayez.
The charges, as listed by the watchdog group Coptic Solidarity and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), include contempt for Islam, inciting public disorder, spreading false information and joining a banned terrorist organization. The Jerusalem Post said the terrorism charge is the one that carries a possible death sentence. Fayez's office told the Post the case concerns “an organization that does not exist” and that Abdelrazek is being prosecuted because he refused to “renounce Jesus.”
Coptic Solidarity says Abdelrazek became a Christian in 2016. He later went to Russia, was held there for 11 months and was deported to Egypt in 2024. He was arrested again on July 15, 2025, in Cairo's Matariya district, and USCIRF says the Supreme State Security Prosecution charged him on July 22. USCIRF lists him as a religious prisoner of conscience who has not been released.
His lawyers and supporters say he has been abused in the 10th of Ramadan Prison. USCIRF says authorities and inmates abused him physically and mentally because of his conversion. Coptic Solidarity and The Christian Post report that he was hung for hours in a “crucifixion” position, denied food, clothing and medical care, and forced to have a Christian tattoo removed. The Jerusalem Post reported that he has a heart stent and has been denied care. The Christian Post said he was forced into a divorce and separated from his young son.
His fiancee is an Australian citizen. He applied for an Australian humanitarian visa in May 2024 and is still waiting for a decision, The Christian Post reported. In Britain, Lord David Alton raised the case in Parliament, the Jerusalem Post said. Coptic Solidarity President Caroline Doss has said his only “so-called 'crime' is living consistently with his conscience and his faith.”
What we don't know yet: Egyptian officials have not commented publicly on the case in the reports we found, and Watchman News has not independently confirmed the abuse claims, which come from his lawyers and advocacy groups. Reports differ on some dates, including whether he was first rearrested in April or July 2025. No verdict has been reported.
