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EGYPTIAN ARBITRARILY DETAINED FOR ROLE IN MOVIE

Egypt UA 18.26

On December 20, 2025, Egyptian national and Danish resident Hassan El Sayed was arrested upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport. National Security Agency officials questioned him about his role in the movie, The Eagles of the Republic, where he appeared very briefly as a priest. Following his arrest, he was taken before a prosecutor, who ordered his pretrial detention pending investigations into the charge of “joining a terrorist group while being aware of its objectives”. Since then, his pretrial detention in case No. 4529 of the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) has been renewed. Authorities must allow him to safely reunite with his family in Denmark.

Call on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Hassan El Sayed and drop all charges against him - send your message to the Egyptian Embassy in the United States using our email writing tool.

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Ambassador to the United States

Motaz

Mounir Zahran

Egypt

Dear Ambassador,

I am concerned about the arrest and arbitrary detention of Hassan El Sayed since December 20, 2025. Security forces questioned him regarding his twenty second appearance in the movie, The Eagles of the Republic, in which he played a Coptic Christian priest. The film was released during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Following his arrest, Hassan El Sayed was subjected to enforced disappearance for five days, from December 20 and 25. During this time, his family had no information about his fate or whereabouts. It was later revealed that security forces had taken him to the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on December 22, where he was questioned by a prosecutor without a lawyer present. Since then, Hassan El Sayed has appeared seven times before the SSSP in online hearings that last only a few minutes. He remains in pretrial detention pending investigations into unfounded charges of “joining a terrorist group while being aware of its objectives”, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He is currently detained in the 10th of Ramadan prison, where his lawyer is barred from visiting him and can only communicate with him during online hearings.

I urge you to ensure that Hassan El Sayed is immediately and unconditionally released and that all charges against him are dropped. He must also be reunited with his family in Denmark. Pending his release, he must be held in conditions that meet international standards and be granted access to adequate healthcare, as well as his family and lawyers.

Yours sincerely,

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