Egypt: Authorities escalate attacks on media freedom rounding up a journalist and a cartoonist

 

The Egyptian authorities subjected a journalist and a cartoonist to night-time house raids, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention within a matter of days signalling an escalation in their crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and independent media, Amnesty International said today.

On 22 July, police arbitrarily arrested Ashraf Omar, a satirical cartoonist who publishes political caricatures for Al-Manassa, one of the few remaining independent media outlets, from his house in Giza. He was targeted days after police also arbitrarily arrested Khaled Mamdouh, a journalist at the news website Arabic Post, from his house in Cairo on 16 July. Authorities subjected both men to enforced disappearance for periods ranging from two to five days before bringing them before the prosecution.

“The Egyptian government has long been a notorious jailer of journalists, prosecuting and locking up media workers solely for their legitimate work. The targeting of the journalist and the cartoonist in a matter of days once again shows media workers in Egypt that critical content can land them in jail even if it is satirical,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Amnesty International’s Egypt Researcher.

“The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release cartoonist Ashraf Omar and journalist Khaled Mamdouh and drop all charges against them, as these solely stem from their media work. Instead of perceiving independent journalism as a threat, the authorities must allow journalists to work freely without fear of intimidation, reprisals or censorship.”

The arrests of the journalists came just a few days before the issue of pretrial detention was discussed during the “national dialogue”, a presidential initiative launched last year that serves as a platform for dialogue between the opposition and the government on pressing issues. On 22 July, members of the “national dialogue” thanked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the public prosecution ordered the release of 79 people from pretrial detention who were held for exercising their human rights and for political reasons.

A group of policemen in plain clothes and uniforms raided Ashraf Omar’s house in October Gardens, Giza, at around 1:30 am. His wife, who was not there at time of the arrest, told Amnesty International that she reviewed a CCTV recording showing the policemen escorting Ashraf Omar, blindfolded, into an unmarked van. When she arrived at the house later that day, she found all Ashraf Omar’s electronic devices missing, likely seized by police.

Lawyers inquired about his whereabouts at 6th of October Third police station, his local station, but the authorities denied his presence and refused to provide any information about him. After two days of enforced disappearance, on 24 July, authorities brought Ashraf Omar before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) which investigated him on charges of joining a terrorist group, publishing false news, and misusing social media, according to Hassan El-Azhary, Al Manassa’s lawyer. Prosecutors ordered his detention for 15 days pending investigations.

Most recently, Ashraf Omar published a cartoon critical of the government’s recent plan to sell state assets, including to investors from countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The drawing depicted a man dressed as a thief offering a map of Egypt to another man dressed in traditional Gulf attire and with a shopping trolley.

Less than a week before Ashraf Omar’s arrest, six policemen, including three masked and one heavily armed, raided Khaled Mamdouh’s house in Mokattam, Cairo, at around 2:00 am. He was not there but arrived about an hour later and was immediately arbitrarily arrested, according to a family member. Before his arrival, policemen searched the house without showing warrants or providing a reason and seized Khaled Mamdouh’s laptops and mobile phones.

After arresting Khaled Mamdouh, some policemen stationed themselves in front of the building with two unmarked vans for at least five hours, barring anyone in the family from leaving.

The authorities denied Khaled Mamdouh was being held at Mokattam police station when the family inquired about his whereabouts there on the day of his arrest. On 21 July, after more than five days of enforced disappearance in an unknown place, the authorities brought Khaled Mamdouh in front of the SSSP which interrogated him on charges of joining and funding a terrorist group and publishing false news.

According to the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression, a Cairo-based NGO whose lawyers are representing Khaled Mamdouh, SSSP prosecutors questioned him about his media work, including his work with Arabic Post, the nature of articles he wrote for the website, and the salary he was receiving. Lawyers said that prosecutors did not present any evidence against Khaled Mamdouh; but ordered his pretrial detention for 15 days pending investigations.

Arabic Post was launched in 2018 as a rebranding of HuffPost Arabi. This is not the first time Egyptian authorities target journalists from this media outlet. In 2018, the authorities arrested HuffPost Arabi’s journalist Moataz Adnan and kept him in pretrial detention for more than three years after he conducted an interview with former anti-corruption official Hisham Genena, who criticized the authorities’ alleged interference in the 2018 presidential elections.

Background

At the time of writing, at least 14 journalists remain behind bars in Egypt relation to their media work or for publishing critical content. In 2023, Egypt had the eighth highest number of jailed journalists globally, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.