The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights announced on Sunday, November 1, 2026, that the Supreme State Security Prosecution had decided to release 19 Shia Muslims held in case No. 5635 of 2026 Supreme State Security, who were among those arrested ahead of the Ashura commemoration last June. The Initiative, in its statement, called for the release of the remaining detainees in the case and for the charges against them to be dropped.
On the same day, lawyer Khaled Ali announced that the prosecution had decided to release five defendants in the same case, and eight defendants in case No. 3099 of 2025 Supreme State Security, known in the media as the “Al-Ahly fans” case, along with seven defendants in six other cases.
According to the Initiative, security agencies began a campaign targeting Shia Muslims on June 22, which resulted in the detention of at least 36 people, among them ten non-Egyptians. Some were arrested from their homes on June 22, and others while gathering to perform religious rites on June 24. The Initiative said those arrested were held incommunicado for about three weeks before being brought before the prosecution, and that its lawyers observed questions during the interrogations about their beliefs, their religious practices and their position on the Prophet’s Companions and the Prophet’s family, which it considers a violation of Article 64 of the Constitution, which guarantees absolute freedom of belief.
The prosecution had released all ten non-Egyptian detainees at the end of last September, and a number of them were deported. Among those detained in the case is Haidar Qandil, a journalist at Al-Dostour newspaper and a member of the Journalists Syndicate, who was arrested on June 22 while leaving his workplace in Dokki. The prosecution charged him with leading and financing a terrorist group, while the other defendants were charged with joining a terrorist group. The Committee to Protect Journalists and other organizations called in August for his release and that of the other detainees.
Photo: Terrazzo from Vernon Hills, IL, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
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