Originally published by Voice of The Persecuted
A father, imprisoned for over two-and-a-half years for discussing theology with Christian converts in a private Facebook group following his conversion from Islam to Christianity, has declared a hunger strike in a heartbreaking letter to his wife and family.
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Religious freedom advocates are calling for the urgent and safe release of Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo following a devastating letter to his family, in which he vows to strike in stages until he makes the strike “complete,” including turning away healthcare treatment and, eventually, food.
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Abdo was arrested by Egyptian authorities in 2021 for his involvement with a Facebook page that is dedicated to supporting people who have converted from Islam to Christianity. He was living as a UNHCR-registered asylum seeker in Egypt following the death threats he received in his home country of Yemen after he converted to Christianity.
A cry for help
In his letter, which has been translated from Arabic, (SEE ATTACHED), Abdo first addresses his family, saying: “My beloved wife and children, who are precious to my heart and soul. My dear, I miss you a lot, a lot a lot. And I pray to God that he will protect you and make you successful in all your situation of your life. And my prayer is that God will unite us together soon.”
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The letter carries on: “I started today on the 7 of August 2024 a partial strike. And I refuse to take treatment from the person who is responsible for healthcare in the prison. And I requested from him to tell the management in the prison that I am doing so. I am going to increase my strike in stages until I make the strike complete during the coming weeks. And the reason of my strike that they arrested me without any legal justification. They did not convict me for any violation of the law. And they did not set me free during my remand imprisonment which was ended 8 months ago.”
Abdo concluded his devastating letter by signing off: “I love you all, Daddy.”
Egyptian authorities arrested Abdo, along with another Christian named Nour Girgis, after discovering their affiliation with the Facebook page, spuriously claiming they were involved with terrorism activities. The men have since been held in pre-trial detention facilities for over two and a half years, having been moved around to different detention centers while their criminal trials have been repeatedly postponed. Their physical health has continued to decline and they have been allowed only occasional visits from family and legal counsel throughout the ordeal.
A full transcript of Abdo’s letter is available in the attached.
Kelsey Zorzi, ADF International’s Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom stated: “Nobody should be imprisoned for expressing their Christian beliefs in a social media post. This devastating cry for help from Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo must not be ignored, and it is past time for Egyptian authorities to release him and Nour Girgis from their unwarranted and unlawful detention. We are utilizing every mechanism available to ensure that both men are released and returned to their families.
“The gross human rights violations and injustice perpetrated by the Egyptian authorities in this case are clear and expose how the laws in Egypt are being abused to punish those with minority views and beliefs. Governments across the world are failing to uphold appropriate legal standards for freedom of religion and speech, allowing rampant criminalisation of social media posts and religious practice to go unchecked. Whether in the Middle East, Europe or elsewhere, we must urgently do better to protect basic human rights, and allow each individual to freely hold and express their own beliefs.”
US Representative Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Global Human Rights Subcommittee and Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, stated: “The government of Egypt has imprisoned Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo for more than two years for no known reason – other than that he shared his Christian faith on Facebook with other converts to Christianity. His imprisonment is a grave and grotesque violation of his human rights. News of his hunger strike makes it more urgent than ever that he be released. I appeal to the government to release Abdo into a safe situation, and I appeal to UNHCR to protect and prioritize vulnerable or endangered applicants, including Christian converts from Islam and those accused of blasphemy.”
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief have received information on behalf of Girgis and Abdo, citing that both men have been deprived of their right to religious freedom and a fair trial under international law. ADF International is directly involved in international efforts to secure their release.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and founder of the AHA Foundation, stated: “That ordinary people can be locked in tiny cells for years simply for expressing beliefs in a private Facebook forum is grotesque. The imprisonment of Yemeni refugee Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo at the hands of Egyptian authorities is a surreal example of censorial blasphemy policies in action. It’s also illegal. Egyptian officials have violated this father and husband’s human rights and must release him back to his family immediately.
“Whether his Christian faith — what he thinks and prays and says privately—is offensive to extremist Islamists is of precisely zero interest to civilised people anywhere.
“The world should take note of what the Egyptian government does. This is the logical conclusion to a trend that empowers authorities to brutalize innocent people for free expression on social media. From China to Pakistan, from Russia to Syria, from the UK to Egypt—free speech must urgently be defended from our age’s resurgent Stalinism.”
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