CAIRO, Egypt — A Christian convert in Egypt imprisoned for more than two years for publicly speaking about his conversion has declared a hunger strike, prompting religious freedom advocates to increase their calls for his release. In a heart-wrenching letter to his wife and five children, Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo said he began a partial strike Aug. 7 by refusing medical care. According to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, authorities arrested Abdo, a registered asylum-seeker under international law living in Egypt, in December 2021 after he appeared on a Christian TV channel discussing his conversion from Islam to Christianity and the persecution Christians face in his native country of Yemen. Another Christian convert, Nour Girgis, was also arrested by authorities for his participation in the TV program. “Nobody should be imprisoned for expressing their Christian beliefs in a social media post. … It is past time for Egyptian authorities to release him and Nour Girgis from their unwarranted and unlawful detention,” said Kelsey Zorzi, director of advocacy for global religious freedom at ADF International. (OSV News)
