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Egypt’s June 15 “terrorism” trial of Said Mansour Abdelrazek (Rezk) was adjourned until September 6.

Rezk’s Australian fiancée Sophie told The Daily Declaration, “our prayers pulled through a miracle.” However, she noted it wasn’t an acquittal.

The delay, though, is a welcome reprieve. Sophie explained that it gives Rezk’s legal defence, led by lawyer Said Fayez, “more time to do something.”

Rezk’s Case Postponed

Quoting from a statement posted on Facebook by Fayez, Coptic Solidarity (CS) reported that the adjournment was due to the prosecution’s witnesses failing to show.

Listed as Case No. 5664 before the Supreme State Security Criminal Court, “it had been scheduled for the prosecution witnesses to testify and be cross-examined by the defence, pursuant to the court’s previous order summoning them.”

“The session,” CS said, “was also expected to include the examination of the forensic expert regarding technical reports.”

This forensic expert did not present his analysis, CS recounted.

Importantly, the 30-year-old’s entire defence team were present, “along with representatives of several human rights organisations monitoring the case.”

According to CS, this is the most important phase of Rezk’s “criminal” trial, “as it provides an opportunity to test the evidence against the facts established in the record.”

“It also enables the accused to exercise his fundamental right to defence and to confront the evidence of the prosecution.”

Fayaz, Rezk’s lawyer, concluded the statement with a reassurance that all was being done to help him.

“The defence team continues to take all necessary legal measures to protect the rights of the accused,” Fayaz wrote, “and to ensure that the trial enjoys all the guarantees stipulated by law and the constitution.”

“Our office,” he said, “will continue to keep the public and interested human rights organisations informed of developments in the case, in a manner that is accurate, professional, and respectful of the course of justice.”

The Injustice of Delay

The adjournment of Rezk’s trial is business as usual for these types of cases. For prisoners of conscience, the punishment is the process.

As The Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR) wrote,

“The right to be tried without undue delay” is often “gravely violated.”

“Many defendants have exceeded the legal two-year maximum for pretrial detention without release.”

EFHR added that “hearings are frequently adjourned for extended periods, sometimes up to three months between sessions.”

This is “contrary to constitutional and human rights principles requiring expeditious adjudication.”

Increasing Global Pressure

Reasons for the adjournment could also be linked to public relations concerns.

The widely regarded false accusations, unjust arrest, and imprisonment of Rezk are becoming a major front-page embarrassment for Egypt.

Thanks in large part to Coptic Solidarity, which launched a global campaign about Rezk’s plight, the Sisi government is under an increasingly global spotlight.

So is the apparent soft-on-Islam Australian Labor government, which has so far ignored requests from CS for diplomatic pressure to secure Rezk’s safety, release and/or asylum.

That spotlight now also includes Amnesty International.

With a clear presence of human rights organisations in the court, transparency is unavoidable.

Add to this higher-level diplomatic awareness and increasing media coverage of Egypt’s Christian persecution pattern, and the majority Muslim government has to be somewhat rattled.

This includes pressure from a rising tide of people on the internet reporting on Egypt’s unconstitutional two-tier policing, where Christians are disproportionately targeted.

For example, Egypt-based Dr Waguih Raouf. He has called out some church leaders alongside the Islamic government for pretending Egypt is a free state paragon of Muslim-Christian coexistence (see here and here).

Dr. Waguih Raouf recounts the plight of @SaidAbuMustafa who has been imprisoned on terrorism charges for converting to Christianity and criticising Islam.

Waguih has also spoken up in a more complete video here:

“Christians are not like Muslims in Egypt. Christians are violated… pic.twitter.com/APgfseovUc

— Rod Lampard (@rod_lampard) June 16, 2026

‘Egypt is Violating Human Rights’: Dr Raouf

Recalling Rezk’s story, Raouf said, “he didn’t realise that the state’s direction is purely Islamic.”

All he did was request to change his religion from Muslim to Christian on his ID card.

Careful about arguing in Rezk’s favour, Raouf said, Egypt “is considered to be violating the human rights charters it has ratified.”

Even if the West did act and threaten to cut aid, he argued, all Egypt and surrounding countries have to do is “threaten the West with migrants crossing the Mediterranean.”

Raouf appears to be warning supporters about the current state of geopolitical diplomacy, stating that the West “will do what [Islamic states] want.”

He was strongly suggesting that mass immigration is being weaponised to leverage power. Especially handy when it comes to silencing criticism of human rights abuses in Islamic countries.

“So,” Raouf said, “don’t rely on solutions through human rights charters.”

He then concluded with, “We, the international community, demand the release of Said Mansour Rezk.”

Amen!

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Image via Unsplash.