State Security renews detention of members of Ahmadi Religion of Peace & Light

The State Security Prosecution in Giza Governorate, Egypt renewed the detention of 16 followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace & Light (Case No. 2025 of 2025) on 22 April.

The 16 individuals were charged with joining a group established in violation of the provisions of the law. Over a year after the case was initiated, on 9 April, the State Security Prosecution added a new defendant to the case who had shared posts on social media promoting the Ahmadi Religion of Peace & Light.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) reported that 17 people were arrested during a campaign against followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace & Light that began on 8 March 2025 and lasted for several weeks. A Syrian refugee who was among them was subsequently deported. The arrestees were not brought before the State Security Prosecution until some of them appeared in court in April 2025.

According to the EIPR, the campaign continued throughout 2025, with at least 53 Ahmadis arrested in connection with eight cases related to freedom of religion or belief. Security forces arrested another individual on 1 March 2026 who appeared before the Public Prosecution on charges of contempt of religion after being held incommunicado for 12 days.

In a separate development on 23 February, the Court of Appeal in Al-Basateen, Cairo, upheld a five-year prison sentence against Coptic Christian Augustinos Semaan, also on charges of ‘contempt of religion’, for sharing posts on his Facebook page which were deemed insulting to Islam, despite numerous legal and constitutional violations that marred his trial.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘The prosecution of members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace & Light violates Egypt’s constitutional obligations as stipulated in Article 64, which states that ‘the freedom of belief is absolute’. It also violates international treaties to which Egypt is a signatory, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it ratified in 1982. CSW stands in solidarity with all who are currently in detention facing prosecution. We call for their immediate and unconditional release, and urge the Egyptian authorities to reform the legal system by removing all laws discriminating against unrecognised faith communities.’