A man who was detained in Egypt for more than three years due to his Christian faith has been released.
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo, a father of five and a Yemeni refugee, faced what ADF International called “severe conditions” and a hunger strike before his release earlier this month.
Abdo’s plight has caught the attention of human rights activists who routinely sounded the alarm that his detention and treatment were deeply problematic and illegal.
“The arbitrary detention of this husband and father without a criminal trial, and the lack of an opportunity for him to defend himself against alleged offenses, constitutes a severe violation of human rights,” Kelsey Zorzi, director of advocacy for Global Religious Freedom at ADF International, said in a statement. “The peaceful expression of one’s religious convictions cannot [be] a crime — not in Egypt, nor anywhere else in the world.”
She continued, “This case shows the extremity of unchecked government censorship in the online age. The world must take note.”
Abdo’s medical conditions surrounding his heart and liver were reportedly ignored while he was detained, adding to charges of unfair treatment.
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also covered Abdo’s plight, noting in a profile that he was accused of “blasphemy terrorism” and was detained “for his religious conversion.”
He was officially charged with joining a terrorist group, discrimination against Islam, and contempt of Islam, according to the government body.
“On Dec. 15, 2021, authorities arrested Abdo, a Yemeni refugee, from his Cairo home,” the USCIRF profile reads. “Abdo’s arrest followed his appearance on a Christian TV channel talking about his conversion to Christianity and alleged persecution Christians in Yemen face. Abdo had also been involved in Facebook groups for Christian converts.”
While incarcerated, he was reportedly put into solitary confinement last year after another inmate claimed he was copying Bible verses on scrap paper.
“I endured many hardships in prison,” Abdo told ADF International. “It isn’t right that a government should tear me away from my family, keep me in these awful conditions, only because of the faith in which I peacefully choose to believe.”
He expressed gratitude for those who have prayed for him throughout the ordeal and who have expressed joy over his newfound freedom.
Despite being released, Abdo’s case remains open, according to ADF International.
It should be noted that Abdo’s problems began well before his Egyptian arrest and detention, as he was reportedly forced to flee Yemen after converting to Christianity. Then, in Egypt, his problems intensified.
Egypt ranks 40th on the 2025 “World Watch List,” an annual report from Open Doors USA that ranks the worst places in the world to be a Christian. Just 9% of the Egyptian population is Christian and they face “discrimination in their communities,” according to Open Doors.
“Christian women are harassed on the streets, especially in rural areas, and Christian children are bullied at school,” the report reads. “Sometimes Muslim mobs force Christians to leave their homes after accusations of blasphemy. These incidents mostly happen in Upper Egypt, where radical Islamist groups are active.”
Read more about the issues in Egypt here.
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