In a joint statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined several press freedom and human rights organizations on Thursday, urging Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release political writer Ahmed Douma.
Douma was arrested on April 6 at the Supreme State Security Prosecution headquarters following a six-hour interrogation and held for nearly two months in pretrial detention. On June 3, he was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of publishing “false news and rumors inside and outside the country that would disturb public order,” over social media posts and an article he wrote for the London-based news website The New Arab. On July 16, the Fifth Settlement Misdemeanor Court is expected to issue its judgment on the appeal.
The statement further called on Egyptian authorities to cease all forms of judicial harassment against Douma and to promptly lift the travel ban that remains in place against him, which constitutes a violation of his right to freedom of movement.
Egypt remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 18 currently behind bars.