Egyptian political commentator Ahmed Douma was arrested on April 6 at the Supreme State Security Prosecution headquarters following a six-hour interrogation, which ordered his detention for four days pending investigation.
On April 9, the Badr Misdemeanor Court ordered that he be held in remand for an additional 15 days.
Douma is facing charges in Case No. 2449 of 2026, including publishing “false news and rumors inside and outside the country that would disturb public order.”
The charges stem from an article he published on the London-based news website The New Arab, entitled “From a Prison Within the State to a State Within the Prison,” as well as posts on his personal social media accounts.
The Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said detaining Douma appears to violate Article 134 of Egypt’s Criminal Procedure Law, as well as Article 71 of the Constitution, which explicitly states that “no custodial penalty shall be imposed for crimes committed by means of publication or publicity.”
Douma is a poet, former political prisoner, and political commentator whose work has appeared in several outlets, including The New Arab, Arabi21, and the independent platform Sotour.
CPJ’s request for comment from Egypt’s Public Prosecutor’s Office did not receive an immediate response.