The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) welcomes the Supreme State Security Prosecution’s October 19 decision to release six Christian youths pending proceedings in Case No. 8430 of 2026 (State Security) without bail. Release procedures have been completed for all six.

The young men, including a child under 18, were detained after posting a video recreating a comedy scene from the film Khalawis. Prosecutors accused them of exploiting religion to promote extremist ideas and offending a religion.

The case dates back to early October, when the young men, from Ezbet Tanios in the village of Taha al-Aamida in Minya’s Samalout district, filmed a video and posted it on TikTok. The video recreates a comedy scene from the 2018 film in which several prisoners prepare to perform Islamic prayer, but none knows the Quranic verses needed to complete the prayer.

The six deleted the video as soon as they were warned it could be misunderstood. However, a village resident reposted it, fueling tensions and online incitement against them and their families. This prompted residents and church representatives to hand the youths over to the Samalout Police Station on October 6 to calm tensions and prevent further repercussions.

A customary reconciliation session was also held, attended by priests from the Samalout Diocese, clerics from the Ministry of Religious Endowments and village elders. The diocese also issued a formal apology to the village’s Muslim residents.

Despite these steps, the Supreme State Security Prosecution questioned the youths on October 10 and ordered their pretrial detention. They appeared before prosecutors again on October 11 for a detention renewal hearing without their lawyers present, before prosecutors ordered their release on October 19.