Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Saad Diab has been detained since September 2022 on anti-state charges.
Diab is a reporter and columnist for state-run newspaper Al-Ahram, where he covers local and international political and cultural news, including Chinese affairs, according to news reports and a local journalist following Diab’s case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Diab also works for China Central Television (CCTV) and often travels to Beijing for work, according to those sources.
On September 6, 2022, state security officers arrested Diab from Cairo International Airport as he boarded a flight to China, according to those reports. For two months, the journalist’s family was unaware of his whereabouts, the reports said.
Egyptian prosecutors charged him with conspiring against the state with foreign organizations and ordered his detention pending trial, according to news reports and the local journalist.
Diab is diabetic and requires daily medications, according to the local journalist. According to Mahmoud Kamel, a board member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, Diab’s family is able to visit him. He has access to his medications, but his health condition is unstable.
The Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police, prisons, and prosecutor general’s office, did not respond to CPJ’s inquiries about Diab’s case in 2024.