Egyptian authorities have released five people detained for their religious beliefs, the latest chapter in an ongoing campaign against freedom of conscience, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights/EIPR. The group renewed its call to release all those detained for their views on religion or belief.
In a statement late Wednesday, EIPR said that at least 20 individuals have been arrested in a weeks-long security campaign launched in mid-September. The crackdown targeted those whose religious views diverged from officially sanctioned norms—including atheists and nonbelievers—for expressing themselves on social media.
Those detained were charged by the Supreme State Security Prosecution in case 6954 of 2025 with “joining a group founded in violation of the constitution and law” and “publicly insulting recognized religions.”
The release came just days after President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi urged state-backed preachers to act as “guardians of freedom and choice,” stressing that “no one is a guardian over anyone.”
Despite this, EIPR said that another person had been added to the same case, joining 15 others still behind bars and facing identical charges.
In its statement, EIPR condemned the arrests as a flagrant breach of Egypt’s constitutional promises to protect freedom of belief, thought, and expression. These rights, it noted, are not only enshrined in Egypt’s constitution but also reiterated in its National Human Rights Strategy and international submissions to the United Nations.
The organization warned of “a growing atmosphere of persecution against free expression,” particularly where it intersects with the right to believe—or not believe. Article 64 of Egypt’s Constitution affirms that “freedom of belief is absolute.”
EIPR called on the government to immediately free all those detained for their religious views and halt the ongoing harassment of individuals exercising constitutionally protected rights.
In May, EIPR condemned what it called a “brutal arrest campaign” targeting followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, which began on March 8.
The campaign followed an incident in early March when a member of the community hung a banner promoting a TV channel affiliated with the group on a pedestrian bridge in Giza.
EIPR reported that detainees from the campaign were subjected to torture and degrading treatment, which detainees later disclosed to the public prosecution. The abuses included physical violence, coercion, denial of medicine and food, and incitement against them by detention staff.
