RELEASED

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A young Egyptian Christian, 28-year-old Hani Samir Tawfik, has been jailed without charges since March 2003. He has been tortured with electric shocks and beaten. Now he is emotionally disturbed and has lost vision in one eye as a result of his treatment.

He was originally arrested in Saudi Arabia as a spy when it was discovered he was a Christian with a Muslim visa. He remained in jail in Saudi Arabia for about five months before being turned over to Egyptian secret police on June 15, 2002. After two months of “severe mistreatment,” he was set free.

According to his family, he was arrested again in March 2003, when he refused to spy on a Christian pastor known to be ministering among Muslim converts to Christianity. According to Compass Direct, Tawfik was first registered as a political prisoner but was re-classified under criminal statutes in January 2004.

Though lawyers have submitted court objections to Tawfik’s detention without charges, the police have used Emergency Law regulations to re-arrest him every 45 days, minutes after the court orders him released. His Bible was destroyed by authorities as he watched, and he is not allowed to have any Christian materials. Since he has been at Al-Gharbineat prison, his mother has not able to travel to visit him.

Released from Prison

Hani Tawfik was released from prison after two years of torture and hopelessness. We thank God for each of you who wrote to him or advocated on his behalf. Hani has been admitted to a hospital. Pray doctors will be able to repair his eye that was damaged while in prison.